Police Chief Calls for Space for Operational Independence Amid Protest Dispute

Police officers and protesters in Parliament Square during the 'March For Palestine' in London on Oct. 28, 2023 Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images

Police need space to make independent operational decisions, a police chief said on Thursday ahead of a controversial pro-Palestinian march on Armistice Day.

Gavin Stephens, chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), said it’s “really important that the public debate doesn’t feature in our operational decision-making” because it would “fundamentally undermine” how policing works in the UK.

It comes after the Metropolitan Police resisted pressure to ban the pro-Palestinian rally on Saturday, which the force said carries risks of “criminal acts by breakaway groups” but not enough risks to justify a ban.

It also comes after Home Secretary Suella Braverman publicly called on the police to be tougher on criminality in pro-Palestinian marches, saying there’s a perception that senior officers “play favourites” with protesters.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman during a visit to the Community Security Trust in London on Oct. 9, 2023. Yui Mok/PA

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has since been facing pressure to sack Ms. Braverman from his Cabinet. Downing Street said on Thursday that Mr. Sunak had “full confidence” in the home secretary.

Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Mr. Stephens said police “need the space to make difficult operational decisions in an independent manner.”

“That space is set out very clearly in law in the Policing Protocol Order which was refreshed earlier this year,” he said.

“The decisions that we take are not easy ones, but we do so impartially, without fear or favour, and in line with both the law and our authorised professional practice.”

In an article published in The Telegraph, the police chief said “outbreaks of disorder” during pro-Palestinian protests “have been addressed swiftly by officers, either at the time, or in collecting evidence for action at a later stage when it is safe to do so.”

He also warned against illegal activities during the protests, saying while emotions are high amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, there’s “absolutely no excuse for anybody using it as an excuse to engage in criminality.”

Police Chief: Can’t Ban Assembly

Protests and vigils have occurred across the UK since the Israel-Hamas war broke out, including a large “national march for Palestine” in London on every Saturday involving tens of thousands of demonstrators.

But the planned march this Saturday, which coincides with the Armistice Day, has drawn more criticisms from the public as well as the government.

The prime minister has said it’s “provocative and disrespectful” to protest on a memorial day, while the home secretary said it’s ”entirely unacceptable to desecrate Armistice Day“ with what she calls ”a hate march through London.”

According to YouGov’s polling of over 2,000 adults in Britain this week, half of the population believes the march should be banned on Armistice Day, with 34 percent saying it should have been allowed to go ahead.

Among those who said they support Israel and Palestine equally and those who didn’t know which side to support, 54 percent and 49 percent believed the march should be banned.

The same poll shows that 41 percent of the respondents believed the rules on protests in London are too relaxed, 19 percent thought they are too strict, and a further 21 percent thought they’re just right.

Conservatives, older people, and supporters of Israel were much more likely to support tougher rules on the protest.

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley previously said the march will go ahead on Armistice Day because the power to ban a moving protest can only be used when there will by a real threat of serious disorder that the police can’t manage.

Chief Constable Chris Haward, who is leading the national police response to the renewed conflict in Gaza, said on Thursday that even if a march were banned, an assembly can’t be.

“You will still expect to have 100,000 people, maybe more, turning up who will then be in a static position,” he said.

A significant policing operation is set to take place in central London over the weekend, with more than 1,000 officers being drafted in from outside forces—778 on Saturday and 288 on Sunday.

A man is arrested as people protest in support of Palestine in London on Oct. 14, 2023. Carl Court/Getty Images

The NPCC said on Friday that between Nov. 2 and Nov. 5, forces across the UK, apart from the Met, have policed 67 protests outside London, leading to eight arrests across three forces.

Sunak Pressured to Sack Braverman

Opposition parties have called for the home secretary to be sacked over the remarks, claiming her rhetorics are “irresponsible,” “inflammatory,” and undermine the operational independence of the police.

They questioned whether the home secretary had broken ministerial code after Downing Street said it didn’t clear Ms. Braverment’s comments, which was published as an op-ed in The Times of London.

Policing Minister Chris Philp has rejected the accusation that the ministers have interfered with police independence, telling MPs on Thursday that they are “perfectly entitled to hold policing to account.”

The prime minister’s spokesman said on Thursday that Downing Street was looking into the details of what had happened around the home secretary’s article, and that Mr. Sunak had “full confidence” in the home secretary.

A number of Conservative MPs have also joined the call to remove Ms. Braverman, with Justice Committee chairman Tory Sir Bob Neill saying on LBC that her position was “untenable.”

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, treasurer of the influential backbench Tory 1922 Committee, suggested “we cannot carry on as we are” with Ms. Braverman as Home Secretary, and Mr. Sunak may be forced to act.

“I think he will certainly want to have a very serious conversation with her to seek an undertaking from her that either she will handle it in a calmer, private way in the future or possibly consider it’s time for her to move to another job in the Cabinet,” he told BBC Radio 4’s “Today” programme.

But Ms. Braverman has supporters on the right of the party and any move against her by Mr. Sunak could deepen divisions within Tory ranks.

Speaking to the same BBC programme, Tory MP Miriam Cates said Ms. Braverman’s view is “very mainstream in the rest of the UK,” and that she would “completely disagree” that the home secretary was making matters worse with her commentary.

PA Media contributed to this report.