No grounds to ban pro-Palestinian march, says Met chief
The Met boss Sir Mark Rowley has said the pro-Palestinian march set to take place on Armistice Day would only be banned as a “last resort.”
Rowley said they will do all the can to protect remembrance activities and Jewish communities.
He said police cannot ban static protests under UK law, but can recruit the power to stop a march if a threat of serious disorder emerges.
But he said the “very high” threshold had not yet been reached.
Sir Mark notes the use of the power was “incredibly rare” and there must be no other way for cops to manage the event.
Speaking to the BBC, the Met chief said: “At the moment, the organisers are still putting the final stages to their plans – which, to be fair to them, are some way away from the ceremonial footprint in Whitehall.
“They’re putting the final touches to those, we’re looking alongside that at what conditions we might need to do to reinforce the protection of critical events and of Jewish communities and the like.
“If over the next few days the intelligence evolves further and we get to such a high threshold – and it’s only been done once in a decade where we need to say to the home secretary ‘we think we need to ban the march element’ – then of course we will do.”
