Sixty Conservative Members of Parliament are writing to the mayor of London in objection to a recent pro-Palestine protest hosted at the Cenotaph.
Pro-Palestine activists orchestrated the demonstration on Saturday, setting up a stage for the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, with influential figures like former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn addressing the crowd.
However, what was intended as a peaceful demonstration quickly escalated into chaos, marred by incidents of anti-Semitic chants, threats, and vandalism of public property. These events have not only incited public outcry but also triggered a response from Tory MPs.
Leading the charge against the protest, a group of 60 Conservative Members of Parliament have condemned it as a “disgrace.”
Sir John Hayes, chairman of the Common Sense Group and a former minister, voiced concerns over the evolving nature of protests.
The Common Sense Group is in the process of drafting a letter to mayor Sadiq Khan, urgently calling for his intervention.
Their letter will implore the mayor to institute a ban on protests near the Cenotaph, emphasising the necessity of curbing what they perceive as a march of “extremists” through the streets of the capital.
Sir Hayes highlighted the extremists’ use of various methods, some of which, he claimed, incite hatred and violence, disrupt public life, and involve criminal damage.
‘Militants’ Behaviour Cannot Be Justified
He told the Telegraph, “We can’t have a situation where militants think that the nature of their cause justifies any kind of behaviour–it doesn’t, and they need to learn that very quickly.”Adding his voice to the chorus of criticism, Reform UK’s candidate for London mayor, Howard Cox, said that he was “amazed” that the protest was allowed to go ahead.
Speaking to The Epoch Times, he expressed concerns over Mr. Khan’s response to the situation.
Mr. Cox said: “I’m absolutely flabbergasted and disgusted that Sadiq Khan hasn’t come out fully to say how bad the Hamas raid and the killing and the murdering that’s gone on in Israel, due entirely to that terrorist group. Yes, a terrorist group.
“I’m amazed he allowed these protests to go ahead. If I‘d been mayor, I’ll tell you now, it would not have happened, I’d have given police more power to stop everything.”
Mr. Cox advocated for greater police powers during similar protests, saying that he would advocate for stop and search.
He said: “Stop and search and definitely, definitely anything that happened they would have been arrested and put into jail straight away. We’ve got to stop this anti-Semitic hatred that we keep seeing in London.”
He vehemently condemned anti-Semitic hatred and suggested that Mr. Khan’s response seemed, in his view, to not take a strong enough approach in combating it.
Mayor Affirms Right to Protest
Responding to these mounting demands, a spokesperson for the mayor reiterated the significance of the right to protest within the democratic framework.The spokesperson said: “Both the mayor and the police are clear–the right to protest is an important part of our democracy, but those who break the law and incite violence or hatred will have action taken against them. There is no place for hate crime in this city. There were a number of arrests from protests at the weekend, and police continue to view footage and other material.
“Changing the law and regulations around what constitutes an appropriate protest is a matter for ministers and Parliament.”
Mr. Cox agreed that protests near the Cenotaph should “absolutely” be banned.
He said: “Absolutely. Right. I mean … I don’t like using the word but it’s a sacred area in terms of people’s memories of what happened in two world wars.
“And my father being one of them. And so to cut a long story short, absolutely.”
He added: “It should be respected by all faiths and all creeds.”
