Sunak Backs Met Over 64 Coronation Arrests

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak holds an oversized tea pot as he goes to pour a cup as he sits next to U.S. First Lady Jill Biden during a Coronation Big Lunch in Downing Street, London, on May 7, 2023. Frank Augstein/PA Media

The prime minister has backed the Metropolitan Police after the force was criticised for arresting dozens of protesters during the coronation of King Charles III.

As tens of thousands of people, including foreign heads of state, gathered at London’s Westminster Abbey to celebrate on Saturday, 64 people were arrested, including anti-monarchy protesters, climate activists, and people in possession of rape alarms.

Police officers patrol The Mall outside Buckingham Palace ahead of the coronation of King Charles III in London on April 29, 2023. Kin Cheung/AP Photo

Speaking to broadcasters on Monday after volunteering at a lunch club in Hertfordshire, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “The police are operationally independent of government, they’ll make these decisions based on what they think is best.

“Actually I’m grateful to the police and everyone who played a part in ensuring that this weekend has gone so well, so successfully, and so safely.

“That was an extraordinary effort by so many people and I’m grateful to them for all their hard work.”

He added: “No other country in the world could put on such a dazzling spectacle and it was a proud expression of our history, our culture, our tradition, and also a reflection of the modern character of our country.

“It was deeply moving to be in the coronation service and incredibly uplifting and it was an experience I think nobody will forget for the rest of their lives.”

‘Disrupt and Diminish’

Graham Smith, chief executive of the anti-monarchy campaign group Republic, who was detained on Saturday, accused Scotland Yard of having “every intention” of arresting demonstrators.

Smith told the BBC that he was arrested while unloading placards on the suspicion of being equipped to “lock-on” to an object or building, a jailable offence under the Public Order Act, which was signed into law only last week.

Graham Smith, leader of campaign group Republic, attends an anti-monarchy protest prior to the Commonwealth Service, outside Westminster Abbey in London, on March 13, 2023. May James/Reuters

He denied this was his intention and accused the Met of lying, adding, “The whole thing was a deliberate attempt to disrupt and diminish our protest.”

“They stopped us because the law was introduced, rushed in last week, to give them the powers to stop us on any flimsy pretext.

“That law means we no longer in this country have the right to protest, we only have the freedom to protest contingent on the permission of senior police officers and politicians and it’s my view that those senior police officers were under immense pressure from politicians.

“I understand the Labour Party said they wouldn’t repeal this law, which is pretty disgraceful if true. This law needs to be repealed.”

Rape Alarms

Following the coronation ceremony, Westminster City Council raised concerns that women’s safety volunteers were among those arrested after rape alarms were seized.

The Metropolitan Police said that, at around 2 a.m. on Saturday, three people—a 37-year-old woman, a 59-year-old woman, and a 47-year-old man—were stopped by officers and arrested in the Soho area of central London on suspicion of conspiracy to commit public nuisance.

Among items seized were a number of rape alarms, the force said.

The Met said it “received intelligence that indicated groups and individuals seeking to disrupt today’s coronation proceedings were planning to use rape alarms to disrupt the procession.”

It also said officers seized the rape alarms after there had been “particular concern from military colleagues” that the alarms would “scare their horses involved in the procession.”

But Westminster City Council said the three people were volunteers from Night Stars, a part of the council’s night safety campaign.

Aicha Less, the councillor in charge of communities and public protection, said: “We are deeply concerned by reports of our Night Stars volunteers being arrested overnight.

“This service has been a familiar and welcome sight in the West End for a long time and have extensive training so they can assist the most vulnerable on the streets late at night.

“We are working with the Metropolitan Police to establish exactly what happened, and in the meantime, we are in touch with our volunteers to ensure they are receiving the support they need.”

‘Worrying’

Caroline Russell, chairwoman of the London Assembly’s Police and Crime Committee, said she will be questioning the Met over the “worrying” arrests.

The Green politician told the BBC: “It seems absolutely extraordinary that those people who were volunteering, they were out there handing out flip flops to people who could no longer walk in their high heels because they’d had a bit too much to drink and handing out rape alarms. It just seems extraordinary that they got caught up in the Met’s safety net. How? It just feels very odd.”

But Ken Marsh, head of the Metropolitan Police Federation representing officers from the rank of constable to chief inspector, said police were acting both lawfully and “impartially.”

“Protesting can take place in this country, but it’s the level to which you want to perform that protest that we have to balance and deal with what’s put in front of us impartially. That’s what was done,” he told the BBC.

PA Media contributed to this report.