Rishi Sunak wants to bolster protest laws and give police more power to ban marches after the Armistice Day chaos.
Pro-Palestine rallies yesterday were marred by anti-Semitic placards that mirrored those used in Nazi propaganda during the 1930s, while video emerged on social media of an ugly brawl breaking out in Trafalgar Square while police in riot gear stood by and watched.
The Met Police has drawn up a list of activists and counter protesters it is hunting for including a woman who was filmed yelling ‘death to all Jews’, two men pictured wearing Hamas headbands, a group of four who called pro Palestine protesters ‘terrorist c***s’ and a woman carrying a Nazi swastika sign.
Suella Braverman caused controversy after her bombshell comments accusing police of ‘playing favourites’ ahead of the 300,000-strong protest through central London’s streets calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Critics blamed the Cabinet minister for inflaming the situation by branding the pro-Palestinian protest a ‘hate march’. However, supporters insist she was proved right by the violence.
Now the Prime Minister appears to be making moves to tighten up protest laws and has targeted five key areas.
Rishi Sunak has reportedly drawn up five key areas he wants to target in order to tighten up the law on protests in a bid to bring an end to the ugly scenes which marred the pro-Palestine protests
Police officers detain a man in the street close to the ‘National March For Palestine’ in central London
The PM also wants to bring in a new law to stop activists from clambering over statues, scaffolding and bus stops, while strengthening legislation on fireworks, smoke bombs, and flares
The Home Secretary waded in again following the chaotic and unsavoury scenes on Armistice Day hours after Britain fell silent to remember the war dead.
Ms Braverman warned the ‘valorisation of terrorism’ at weekly pro-Palestinian protests ‘can’t go on’ as she slammed ‘hate, violence, and anti-Semitism’.
Mr Sunak appears to be making moves to tighten up protest laws with ministers also reportedly looking to find ways to restrict the ‘river from the sea’ chant – which has been seen by many as a wish to see Israel wiped out from the map.
According to The Sun, Mr Sunak has targeted five areas to close up loopholes including lowering the threshold for when police deem marches and protests as unsafe and clarifying the law on glorifying terrorists.
The PM also wants to bring in a new law to stop activists from clambering over statues, scaffolding and bus stops, while strengthening legislation on fireworks, smoke bombs, and flares is also on his wishlist.
It comes just days after Mr Sunak’s vision for a crackdown on crime was outlined during the King’s Speech.
The PM has put crime and sentencing at the heart of the legislative programme for 2024, as he seeks to make law and order a key dividing line with Labour.
The King’s Speech contained a number of measures ‘to keep communities safe from crime, anti-social behaviour, terrorism and illegal migration’.
As part of measures to tackle violence against women and girls, ministers plan to criminalise the sharing of sexual images without consent.
Police clash with far-right counter-protesters in Parliament Square yesterday
Police are also ‘actively seeking’ two men pictured wearing alleged Hamas-style headbands
One demonstrator was pictured carrying a sing that showed the Jewish Star of David wrapped around a Nazi swastika with the slogan: ‘No British politician should be a ‘friend of Israel’ (Picture edited by the Met Police)
Another group of four men were filmed walking through Waterloo station before shouting vile expletives at protestors
Charles told MPs and peers: ‘A Bill will be brought forward to ensure tougher sentences for the most serious offenders and increase the confidence of victims.
‘My ministers will introduce legislation to empower police forces and the criminal justice system to prevent new or complex crimes, such as digital-enabled crime and child sexual abuse, including grooming.’
While the Sentencing Bill would mean a whole life order would be handed down in the worst cases of murder, with judges having discretion to impose a shorter tariff only in exceptional circumstances.
The legislation would also ensure that rapists and serious sexual offenders serve the whole of their sentence behind bars, without being released early on licence.
It would make being in a grooming gang an aggravating feature for sentencing, meaning tougher punishments for ringleaders and members.
A Victims and Prisoners Bill is set to give ministers the power to block parole for the worst offenders and ban them from marrying in prison.
The Met and the BTP were said to be investigating videos filmed in London Waterloo and Victoria stations yesterday ‘which show unacceptable abuse including antisemitic language, as well as threatening behaviour’.
The BTP appealed for information about a group of men, including one in an Arsenal football shirt, who were filmed yelling abuse at some of the Palestine supporters in Waterloo.
The Arsenal fan is seemingly the first to hit out, calling the group of individuals ‘terrorist f***ers’.
Another man then steps forward, agreeing: ‘Yeah who are you? You terrorist c***’.
Officers detained and arrested scores of counter-protesters at the rally, which the Met said was attended by 300,000 people
The confrontation appears to escalate as one of the men shouts: ‘Who are you? Who are you f***ing hitting’. He is then held back by another man as he leaps forward.
Pro Palestine supporters then hit back, telling the group of men: ‘You are being disrespectful towards the dead’.
The right-wing mob then declare in response: ‘Who are you? We were born in this country. You f***ing tourist c***s’.
‘We were born in this country,’ one of the men can be heard yelling repeatedly, until one woman replied: ‘So were we!’
Ms Braverman warned today the ‘valorisation of terrorism’ at weekly pro-Palestinian protests ‘can’t go on’ as she slammed ‘hate, violence, and anti-Semitism’ on Armistice Day.
She wrote on the X social media site: ‘Our brave police officers deserve the thanks of every decent citizen for their professionalism in the face of violence and aggression from protesters and counter protesters in London yesterday.
‘That multiple officers were injured doing their duty is an outrage…
‘The sick, inflammatory and, in some cases, clearly criminal chants, placards and paraphernalia openly on display at the march mark a new low. Anti-Semitism and other forms of racism together with the valorising of terrorism on such a scale is deeply troubling.
‘This can’t go on. Week by week, the streets of London are being polluted by hate, violence, and anti-Semitism.
‘Members of the public are being mobbed and intimidated. Jewish people in particular feel threatened. Further action is necessary.’