Furious service members have slammed the ‘disgraceful’ pro-Palestine protesters who scaled one of Britain’s hallowed war memorials last night as police stood by and watched.
The Metropolitan Police has come under fire this morning after flag-waving protesters climbed on the Royal Artillery Memorial at Hyde Park Corner, London amid a sea of poppies after a demonstration outside the Houses of Parliament last night descended into mayhem.
A video posted online of people on the sacred memorial sparked outrage, with some demanding the demonstrators be arrested, but the force has insisted the protesters had not broken any laws by their actions.
Scotland Yard admitted that ‘most people would agree’ that scaling a war memorial is ‘unacceptable’ and claims officers ‘made every effort to prevent it from happening in recent days’. However, the force says it did ‘regret’ that officers were ‘not able to respond quickly enough to stop it happening’.
Home Secretary James Cleverly, who served in the Royal Artillery, has today branded the demonstration as ‘deeply disrespectful’ and suggested laws could be changed to give police powers to prevent protesters clambering over war memorials.
The demonstration broke out as Sir Keir Starmer suffered a major rebellion over his stance on the Gaza conflict, losing eight frontbenchers as dozens of Labour MPs in the Commons supported an SNP-backed ceasefire.
The incident also comes as more than 150 pro-Palestine marches are set to sweep across Britain this weekend instead of one London protest, organisers have confirmed.
Pro-Palestine protesters climbed Royal Artillery Memorial in Hyde Park last night
Flag-waving protesters climbed on the Royal Artillery Memorial at Hyde Park Corner amid a sea of poppies after a demonstration outside the Houses of Parliament last night descended into mayhem
Activists dressed in green, red and black swarming around an elderly couple’s car by Trafalgar Square – while police officers dramatically raced to the Cenotaph in Westminster amid fears the protesters would scale the memorial
Met Police issued a dispersal order throughout Westminster from 7.50pm last night until 2am this morning
A dispersal order was in place across parts of the City of Westminster from 7.50pm yesterday to 2am today. Roads around Buckingham Palace remained closed as of 7am today, causing disruptions to the morning commute.
Separate footage shared on social media showed activists dressed in green, red and black swarming around an elderly couple’s car by Trafalgar Square – while police officers dramatically raced to the Cenotaph in Westminster amid fears the protesters would scale the memorial.
The footage of the protesters climbing the monument sparked criticism, but a statement from the police said the protesters had not broken any laws by their actions.
Scotland Yard said: ‘We know some online have asked why the protesters were not arrested.
‘There is no law explicitly making it illegal to climb on a memorial so officers cannot automatically arrest, but they can intervene and make it clear the behaviour isn’t acceptable. The videos shared online show them doing that.’
Police said the protesters who climbed on the memorial were a breakaway group who had been dispersed at Hyde Park Corner.
‘Most people would agree that to climb on or otherwise disrespect a war memorial is unacceptable,’ the statement said. ‘That is why our officers have made every effort to prevent it happening in recent days.
‘While officers were on scene quickly, we regret they were not there quickly enough to prevent the protesters accessing the memorial.’
Police said one arrest had been made at the protest for possession of an offensive weapon.
Mr Cleverly, who served in the Royal Artillery, told LBC Radio this morning: ‘We’re going to look at this.
‘We are absolutely determined to look at this. (Veterans minister) Johnny Mercer, a former gunner officer – the Royal Artillery was my regiment as well, that’s my regimental memorial.’
The Home Secretary added: ‘I’m not going to let my personal feelings cloud my judgement on this but it is clearly wrong, and the police have said that they recognise it is deeply disrespectful for people to climb on war memorials.
‘We have made a commitment to review the legislation around public order policing.
‘If the police – and I’m going to look at this in real detail – if the police need more powers to make sure that really deeply distasteful, provocative things like that do not happen for the public good, because of course this is about making sure it doesn’t stimulate violent action or any kind of violent responses, but if we need to take action specifically to give police more powers, we are looking at doing that.’
A dispersal order was in place across parts of the City of Westminster from 7.50pm yesterday to 2am today. Pictured are the poppies laid by the Royal Artillery Memorial
Police said the protesters who climbed on the memorial were a breakaway group who had been dispersed at Hyde Park Corner.
A protester wearing the Palestinian flag and carrying a ‘Free Palestine’ placard is pictured scaling the Royal Artillery Memorial in London last night
Demonstrators will return to Britain’s streets again this weekend as protests have been planned all across the country.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), lead organiser of five consecutive weekly marches, said it planned to return to the capital at a later date but was pausing action because of the toll coordinating them had taken.
About 700,000 people are thought to have attended the march on Armistice Day, which saw violent clashes between counter-protesters and police, with 18 officers injured.
Police made 145 arrests and seven people were charged following what was by far the most violent of the five weekly protests.
But this weekend the focus will switch from the capital to smaller regional marches, vigils and speeches across the country in what could prove a challenge for local forces.
Rallies will take place in towns and cities including Newcastle, Oxford, Nottingham, Birmingham and Bristol.
National Police Chiefs’ Council chairman Gavin Stephens said he was confident forces were well equipped to deal with the scattered demonstrations.
‘A huge amount of work is taking place to protect the public, engage with local groups, police protests and take swift and robust action where free speech crosses the line into criminality,’ he added.
‘We are not anti-protest, but we are anti-crime – be that hate crime, public order offences or any other form of criminality.’
Thousands of people attended the pro-Palestinian march in London last Saturday, November 11
Protesters marched through central London towards the US Embassy in solidarity with the Palestinian people
Counter-protesters clash with police near Parliament Square, London on Armistice Day
The Metropolitan Police said its officers were spat at, knocked to the ground, punched and hit by fireworks, bottles and beer cans during the ugly clashes on Saturday. Pictured: Officers arrest a man on a street in Westminster on Saturday following clashes
In addition to the need for vigilance around hate crimes and incidents of anti-Semitism, forces will have to be conscious of the possibility of more clashes with far-Right counter-protesters.
The Metropolitan Police said its officers were spat at, knocked to the ground, punched and hit by fireworks, bottles and beer cans during the ugly clashes on Saturday.
Officers on the frontline suffered dislocations and broken bones, a spokesman said.
Assistant commissioner Matt Twist described the extreme violence from far-Right protesters towards police as ‘extraordinary and deeply concerning.’ Sergeant Lee Smith was struck in the face by a can of beer, which cut his mouth and split open his lip.
‘The can hit me and I stumbled back and it felt like I had been punched in the face. It was a really horrible situation, but I didn’t want to go to hospital and leave my team,’ he said.
‘I looked around and could see a lot of our younger officers were worried, and it’s not fair that they’re subjected to that.
‘We were isolated and holding the line, but I was proud of our officer’s resilience when responding to the events over the weekend.’ In addition to the violence from the counter-protesters, groups splintered from the main demonstration and caused more trouble – including a gang of about 150 who shot fireworks in officers’ faces.
The Met said it was ‘continuing to support’ 18 officers who were injured on Saturday, including nine from other forces. Pictured are police near Parliament Square
Tens of thousands of people have turned up on the streets of London on Saturday
People set off fireworks during the main pro-Palestinian march in London on Saturday evening
Protesters hold flares during the pro-Palestinian protest in London on Saturday
A counter-protester is detained by police in Parliament Square in central London on Saturday
A PSC spokesman confirmed there would be a pause this weekend on a large march in London but there would be more until Israel agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza.
‘From a logistical point of view, doing the national London marches is putting a huge strain on resources and supporters,’ they said.
‘But it is also strategic and will allow us to involve and empower more people throughout the country, not just those who can come to London.
‘We want to take the message far and wide, particularly in terms of MP constituencies which adds to the political pressure for a ceasefire.’