Sunak Says Police Can Act on ‘Jihad’ Chants as Met Chief Calls for Law Change

(L) Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley in London on Sept. 11, 2023. (James Manning/PA) (R) Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during a visit to Clacton Library in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, on Oct. 18, 2023. Frank Augstein/PA

The chief of London’s Metropolitan Police blamed gaps in the law on Monday after ministers criticised the force for not taking action over chants of “jihad” at a “pro-Palestine” Islamist rally over the weekend.

However, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak insisted the police already have sufficient legal power “to arrest those who are inciting violence or racial hatred,” and said the government will work on clarifying guidance.

In footage circulated online, a man could be seen chanting “Jihad! Jihad!” during a rally organised by the revolutionary Islamist party Hizb ut-Tahrir on Saturday.

The words were chanted in response to a speaker’s rhetorical question, “What is the solution to liberate people in the concentration camp of Palestine?” before the speaker said the only solution is “jihad by armies of the Muslim countries,” and called on “people with arms” in Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and “across the Muslim world” to “break the chain of command” and mobilise.

The Met later said while the word “jihad”—understood by moderate Muslims as an internal spiritual struggle but often used as a synonym for holy war against the enemies of Islam—is “most commonly” associated with terrorism, specialist officers and specialist Crown Prosecution Service lawyers didn’t identify any offences in the clip.

A number of ministers have chimed in on the issue, saying calls for “jihad” should be met with “the full force of the law.”

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said it amounts to “inciting terrorist violence,” while Transport Secretary Mark Harper told Times Radio the Met would “have to explain the reasons for the decisions they have taken.”

Addressing Parliament on Monday, Mr. Sunak said, “Calls for jihad on our streets are not only a threat to the Jewish community, but to our democratic values.

“And we expect the police to take all necessary action to tackle extremism head on.”

Protesters in Trafalgar Square, central London, during a pro-Palestine march organised by Stop the War Coalition and Palestine Solidarity Campaign on Oct. 21, 2023. Stefan Rousseau/PA

Met Commissioner: ‘Can’t Enforce Taste or Decency’

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said lines in the law may not be “quite in the right place” after having what he said was a “constructive” meeting with Home Secretary Suella Braverman on Monday.

“We are absolutely ruthless in tackling anybody who puts their foot over the legal line. We’re accountable for the law. We can’t enforce taste or decency, but we can enforce the law,” he told journalists.

Sir Mark asserted that laws around “hate crime and terrorism” haven’t “taken full account of the ability in extremist groups to steer around those laws and propagating the truly toxic messages through social media.

“Those lines probably need re-drawing,” he said.

In an article published in The Telegraph, the Met chief stressed that “some protests will inevitably offend” and suggested the law needs changing along with shifting public expectations.

“In an increasingly polarised society, the chasm between our country’s legislation and public expectation is becoming more evident,” he wrote.

“The events of this moment suggest that perhaps the line of the law is not in the right place.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer echoed Sir Mark’s argument, telling broadcasters, “I think there have already been identified some gaps in the law in a previous review under this government and I think the government needs to look at whether there are gaps in the law that need to be addressed as well.”

Protesters during a pro-Palestine march organised by Stop the War Coalition and Palestine Solidarity Campaign in central London on Oct. 21, 2023. Stefan Rousseau/PA

Sunak: ‘Police Do Have the Powers’

Mr. Sunak said he’s “happy” to address gaps in the law but insisted the police already have the powers to tackle such behaviour.

“Where there are gaps in the law, we are happy to address and look at them, but we believe that at the moment the police do have the powers to arrest those who incite violence or racial hatred,” he said after Labour MP Dame Diana Johnson asked about Sir Mark’s claims.

“There is no place on our streets for that type of behaviour, and we will work extensively to clarify the guidance to officers on the ground so they are fully aware of the powers and tools available to them to make sure these people feel the force of the law,” he asserted.

Labour MP Steve McCabe asked why supporters of Hizb ut-Tahrir were allowed to assemble in London while the party is “a fundamentalist organisation that is banned in 40 countries and across most of the Arab world.” The prime minister said the government keeps the list of proscribed organisations under review.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair wanted to proscribe Hizb ut-Tahrir in 2005 although the group was later assessed to not meet the criteria at the time.

The controversy around chants of “jihad” came after the home secretary wrote to chief constables encouraging them to consider whether chants such as “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” should be “understood as an expression of a violent desire to see Israel erased from the world, and whether its use in certain contexts may amount to a racially aggravated section 5 public order offence.”

The slogan was chanted on Saturday in the pro-Palestinian rally that the Met said attracted up to 100,000 demonstrators.