UK’s Suella Braverman slams policing of pro-Palestinian rallies

LONDON — Britain’s top interior minister, Suella Braverman, laid into the Metropolitan Police after it green-lit a controversial pro-Palestinian protest in London this weekend.

In an article that has already attracted criticism from some of the home secretary’s own Conservative colleagues, Braverman accused the London police force of “playing favorites” and failing to treat “pro-Palestinian mobs” the same way as right-wing and nationalist protestors.

It’s the latest intervention in an increasingly heated row over this weekend’s planned demonstration.

Saturday’s march coincides with Armistice Day, which commemorates the end of World War I, and comes a day before Remembrance Sunday. The Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which organized the event, has stressed it will avoid any remembrance activity and focus on calls for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

But Braverman’s statement goes much further than her boss, Prime Minster Rishi Sunak, who said Wednesday night that the protest was “disrespectful” but stressed “the right to peacefully protest.”

Writing in the Times, the home secretary said recent pro-Palestinian marches in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war had become marked by “violence around the fringes.”

And she added: “Unfortunately, there is a perception that senior police officers play favorites when it comes to protesters.

“Right-wing and nationalist protesters who engage in aggression are rightly met with a stern response yet pro-Palestinian mobs displaying almost identical behavior are largely ignored, even when clearly breaking the law.”

The Met Police said this week that the legal threshold to stop the march on security grounds has not been met and warned there must be “a real threat of serious disorder and no other way for police to manage the event” for the police to take such a step.

‘Misguided’

The backlash to Braverman’s article was swift — including for her decision to draw parallels between “Islamists” in the pro-Palestinian demonstrations and unspecified marches in Northern Ireland.

A government official, granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, told POLITICO London Playbook that Braverman was “offensive and ignorant” on Northern Ireland and that she was “only looking after her misguided aspirations for leader.”

Fellow Cabinet minister Mark Harper also declined to endorse Braverman’s view when pressed on Times Radio Thursday morning. “I think all police forces are focused on upholding the law without fear or favor,” the transport secretary said. “That’s what they do.”

The opposition Labour Party piled in too, with spokesperson Yvette Cooper calling Braverman “out of control” and saying that “no other home secretary of any party would ever do this.”

But Nigel Farage, the former Brexit Party leader, accused the Met Police of ignoring the “awful” actions of pro-Palestinian protestors and told GB News: “The indecision is reaching levels that are almost embarrassing.”

Eleni Courea contributed reporting.