London’s Metropolitan Police force is stepping up its action against protesters responding to the Israel-Hamas war, but officials say they are still unsure about who they can arrest.
Five people are due to appear in court after they were arrested during pro-Palestine protests over the weekend. Their alleged offences include the shouting of racist abuse, the displaying of threatening placards, and the assault of a police officer. The Met said that a total of 11 people were arrested on Saturday and Sunday at demonstrations attended by more than 1,000 officers. Included on this list was a 16-year-old boy who is said to have directed “verbal abuse” at officers escorting protesters.
The BBC has described central London protests, attended by more than 100,000 people, as “mainly peaceful.” But they have reignited the question of how officers should police extreme language.
Government officials said they were “disturbed” by the Met’s failure to intervene during chants of “jihad” at a pro-Palestine rally soon after Hamas’ attack. Sir Mark Rowley, the force’s commissioner, responded that there was no actual legislation under which those shouting this, and such like, could be arrested. Following this weekend’s round of demonstrations, he added:
There is scope to be much sharper in how we deal with extremism within this country. The law was never designed to deal with extremism, there’s a lot to do with terrorism and hate crime but we don’t have a body of law that deals with extremism, and that is creating a gap.
We’ve got these big protests and some of what goes on there, people do find it upsetting and distasteful and sometimes people give an instinctive view that must not be legal. But there’s no point arresting hundreds of people if it’s not prosecutable, that’s just inflaming things.
Sir Mark said he is seeking more clarity from ministers on extremism.
But some, while finding much of what has been displayed at recent protests reprehensible, are concerned that such “clarity” could result in freedom of speech rights being wrongly infringed upon. Writer and trade unionist Paul Embery has noted:
Incitement to violence is rightly a criminal offence. But some ‘free-speech enthusiasts’ are suddenly trying to lower the threshold for criminality to include standard political chanting. Be consistent.
Embery added that Britons should be cautious about abandoning principles “just because you loathe your opponent.”
