Mick Hartley

It's the battle of the titans, as the Home Secretary calls the Palestine demos hate marches, while the Met Police Chief says she's just stuck two words together, there's no problem, and there's no reason to cancel this Saturday's march.

From Braverman's Times commentary:

Now as we approach a particularly significant weekend in the life of our nation, one which calls for respect and commemoration, the hate marchers — a phrase I do not resile from — intend to use Armistice Day to parade through London in yet another show of strength.

Here we reach the heart of the matter. I do not believe that these marches are merely a cry for help for Gaza. They are an assertion of primacy by certain groups — particularly Islamists — of the kind we are more used to seeing in Northern Ireland. Also disturbingly reminiscent of Ulster are the reports that some of Saturday’s march group organisers have links to terrorist groups, including Hamas.

There will be time for proper discussion about how we got to this point. For now, the issue is how do we as a society police groups that insist that their agenda trumps any notion of the broader public good — as defined by the public, not by activists.

The answer must be: even-handedly. Unfortunately, there is a perception that senior police officers play favourites when it comes to protesters. During Covid, why was it that lockdown objectors were given no quarter by public order police yet Black Lives Matters demonstrators were enabled, allowed to break rules and even greeted with officers taking the knee?

Right-wing and nationalist protesters who engage in aggression are rightly met with a stern response yet pro-Palestinian mobs displaying almost identical behaviour are largely ignored, even when clearly breaking the law? I have spoken to serving and former police officers who have noted this double standard.

Football fans are even more vocal about the tough way they are policed as compared to politically-connected minority groups who are favoured by the left. It may be that senior officers are more concerned with how much flak they are likely to get than whether this perceived unfairness alienates the majority. The government has a duty to take a broader view.

If the march goes ahead this weekend, the public will expect to see an assertive and proactive approach to any displays of hate, breaches of conditions and general disorder.

The shit has hit the fan. Everybody's up in arms. Labour are saying she's out of control and must be sacked. Times commenters are horrified and appalled at this disgraceful "far right" hate-filled rant.

No one attracts the vitriol quite like Suella Braverman. I've seen her described as "excrement in human form" on X. But I think she's right here. These are hate marches. Every bloody weekend. Some may like to think it's all about calling for a Gaza ceasefire, or condemning the bombing, but they're fooling themselves: these are Free Palestine demos, calling for the elimination of Israel, and they're clearly antisemitic, and deliberately intimidatory to Jews. It's that by-now familiar toxic mix of Islamism and the hard left.

Should the march be banned? I think probably not. It's a dark road to go down, and anyway could be counter-productive since it's unlikely that the marchers would take notice of any ban, and the police simply don't have the numbers to enforce. Call in the army? Hmm.

So – we'll see. If the armistice ceremony goes ahead without any trouble, and the demo is kept away, then Sir Mark can be pleased with himself. That's what we all hope. If that's not the case, perhaps some of those now fulminating against that nasty witch Suella Braverman may think again.