Viewpoint: between a rock and a hard place on protest

With Conservative MPs 'queuing up' to criticise the Met's policing of demonstrations arising from the war in the Middle East Chris Hobbs reports from the demos and assesses the arguments for clearer laws around extremism

Officers could be forgiven for expecting praise and support from the Home Secretary in that major protests and vigils amidst soaring communal tensions due to events in the Middle East had passed off with relatively minor disorder and relatively few arrests.

Instead, we had the unedifying spectacle of Suella Braverman appearing to imperiously summon the Met’s Commissioner to the naughty step, apparently as a result of officers not indulging in the ‘laying on of hands,’ in respect of certain pro-Palestine protesters.

Saturday’s march was expected to be the largest London has seen since the Gulf War protest and so it proved. Those arriving at Marble Arch for the midday commencement of protest were greeted with a scene of abject chaos due to the sheer numbers congregating on the footways and in Hyde Park itself. Stewards began directing people along Park Lane towards Hyde Park corner.

Suddenly, the momentum of those being directed became the start of the march itself and thousands began streaming along Park Lane with there being no formal head of the march. The relevant commander in the Met clearly realised what was happening and placed a police cordon across Park Lane by the Hilton Hotel where the march was halted so that some form of order could be established.

Protect the statues

At this point, I opted to utilise public transport and relocate to Parliament Square where there was to be a ‘protect the statues,’ gathering presumably intended to be a repeat of events in 2020 which saw serious disorder throughout central London.

In fact, as the rain fell, there were just two sodden groups of half a dozen each being watched by a number of police officers. An officer told me that a small number had been present but ‘seem to have gone.’

They appeared to have adjourned to the Silver Cross public house in Whitehall on the march route and footage was later to show that their presence had been noticed by pro-Palestinian marchers. The St. George’s flag could be seen being waved in the doorway as police intervened.

100,000 march

I returned to Piccadilly Circus with impeccable timing as the march was approaching with order having been restored at the head of the tens of thousands of protesters. As the marchers began to continue past Eros onto the Haymarket, came a surreal moment: A busker with a powerful sound system and an equally powerful voice began to sing John Lennon’s classic ‘Imagine.’

The march reached its destination without further incident as thousands streamed down Whitehall, past Downing Street and to the controversial stage which had been relocated further along Whitehall adjacent to King Charles Street.

What I didn’t realise at the time was that as the head of the march had reached Whitehall, the rear of the march was leaving Marble Arch; the Met later stated that around 100,000 took part. As more marchers arrived, the growing crowd became rather more densely packed and, after an unnerving experience at the Notting Hill Carnival, I positioned myself close to a ‘safety exit,’ alleyway that runs from Whitehall, between the Ministry of Defence and New Scotland Yard and down to the Embankment.

Later, as the speeches commenced, my temporary relocation to Parliament Square saw an incongruous protest by about 30 persons in respect of AI: Artificial Intelligence. There was also another unrelated police intervention as three individuals sporting a St.George’s flag received some hostile attention from several protesters.

Just after 3pm crowds began passing the stage and forming up behind a line of stewards. It looked as if the rally was over. Hundreds then moved forwards across the crossroads at Parliament Square and began marching past Parliament itself towards Millbank. It looked like a post-rally walkabout in the rain.

As the group moved into the distance, officers from the City of London Police Task Force ran in a single line formation, to catch up with the marchers. They were followed a short while later, by three TSG carriers.

A few minutes elapsed before the marchers returned; apparently, they had been turned around by City and TSG officers. Meanwhile the rally was not over and the speeches continued. It was as if those who left were making room for those who were still arriving.

A return to the alley opposite Downing Street saw a remarkable sight; looking back up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, the road was still packed with marchers approaching their final destination where speeches were still being made.

Many, but not all, head for home

As time passed, the situation in Whitehall eased. After reaching their destination and listening to some of the speeches, thousands of soaked protesters decided enough was enough and headed for home. The crowds became sparser and there was the obligatory protest at the gates of Downing Street.

During this period, we had the traditional youth on the top of a stationary bus scenario. The bus, situated behind the stage, was not ‘in service,’ possibly due to a breakdown and the youth eventually came back to earth via a nearby bus stop roof.

A walk to Trafalgar Square saw a repeat of the gathering of the previous week, except the numbers were greater. Hundreds of mainly youthful protesters had gathered and footage was later to show some disorder involving the City Police Task Force.

A breakaway march and disorder

Suddenly, the chanting crowd decided to leave Trafalgar Square and, despite the incessant rain, go on a predictable walkabout. Serials were deployed and ran to catch up with the main body. The several hundred marchers retraced their steps along Piccadilly, past Green Park and on to Park Lane. There police made an arrest and formed the usual protective bubble. Another serial of officers stood close-by.

There was an eruption of disorder with missiles, including traffic cones, being thrown at police. The nearby serial rushed to assist and, as the troublemakers backed away, the order was given for ‘NATO’ helmets to replace baseball caps.

As I approached Marble Arch, numerous carriers on ‘blues and two,’ raced along Park Lane. At Marble Arch itself, more carriers arrived in formation along Oxford Street. Silver had, presumably, decided enough was enough. Some carriers parked up at Marble Arch which was clearly an RVP; others continued their journey possibly in the direction of the Israeli Embassy where there was already a police presence.

Hizb-ut-Tahrir

In all, there had been ten arrests during the day and no major disorder. That seemed to suggest a successful policing operation but this was a view not shared by sections of the media or many Tory MP’s who queued up to attack the Met during a debate on the current crisis.

A source of concern centred around the Islamist group Hizb-Ut-Tahrir who staged a separate protest outside the Egyptian Embassy. Footage emerged of an individual shouting ‘jihad,’ and a black Islamist flag was displayed. The Met pointed out that the flag was not linked directly to ISIS and that ‘Jihad,’ was a word that could, was and is interpreted in a number of ways.

Bring the hostages home and police vigilance

The following day saw a ‘Bring them home,’ rally, the focus of which was on the hostages held by Hamas. Trafalgar Square was the venue and there was only one entrance into the event where bags were being examined by GST security officers; GST are an organisation, part funded by the government that provides security for the Jewish community.

Met police officers were also deployed both inside and outside the square and it was clear that vigilance was the order of the day. As the large crowds, many carrying Israeli flags, were entering the Square, TSG officers had stopped a vehicle on the section of the Charing Cross Road that is adjacent to Trafalgar Square. All three men were handcuffed and compliant. The search was extensive and I moved on therefore am not sure whether this was an arrest to which the Met’s Event’s twitter feed later referred.

On the other side of Trafalgar Square, the behaviour of a male with a rucksack, caught my eye as he watched proceedings which included some heartbreaking accounts of those the speaker knew, who had been taken hostage or murdered.

Uniform officers were obviously of a similar opinion and approached him. They were polite and clearly determined not to embarrass the man in question. He was having none of it and refused to engage. After several minutes, the officers decided enough was enough, took his arms and marched him across the road to an uncrowded footway where he was searched.

After a few minutes, it became clear that the male had been arrested. He was cuffed and his rucksack and other property was decanted into evidence bags before he marched to a carrier. I did overhear that he was found in possession of a ‘blade.’ An officer I spoke to couldn’t confirm that but did say that the arrest was not directly linked to the event taking place in Trafalgar Square. The arrest, however, showed the vigilance of officers which was the hallmark of the day.

A hornet’s nest

The next incident occurred in the pedestrian area in front of the National Gallery. Several youths aged around 16 were spoken to by police and ushered on their way. After a comfort- break at Charing Cross station I returned to find that the event had ended and crowds were leaving. As I walked up the Charing Cross Road, I saw the youths again and one of them produced a flag which I and clearly many of the departing crowd, thought was Palestinian.

This provoked a hornet’s nest of fury as officers moved towards the youths as did a number of the angry crowd clearly intent on confrontation or worse. The youths ran pursued by officers. One didn’t get far and was pinned to the ground; others were apprehended before they reached the Strand, one with the assistance of a BTP officer.

What was disappointing was the reaction a small number of those who attended the event who abused officers during and immediately after the incident with the youths, calling the officers ‘apologists.’ In fairness however, many of those who attended took the trouble to thank officers as they were leaving.

The critical aftermath

If the Met’s senior officers were, as the weekend’s demands concluded, patting themselves and their officers on their back in relation to a job well done with some 30 arrests, they were soon brought back down to earth as vitriolic criticism poured in from both the media and politicians.

Much criticism centred on the separate Hizb-Ut-Tahrir rally at the Egyptian Embassy and the failure of officers to arrest the man shouting for ‘Jihad.’ As stated above, as with the ‘from the river to the sea,’ chant, ‘Jihad,’ is open to a variety of interpretations. The black flag with Arabic script was deemed by social media to be the ISIS flag however, as the Met had already explained; it wasn’t.

The Met’s explanations that current legislation was not strong enough to cover these incidents cut little ice. The fact that they had discussed these scenarios with experts and with the CPS simply confirmed their view that the law wasn’t strong enough. As with the ‘from the river,’ chant, arrests upon these grounds would inevitably be a ‘gravy train,’ for leftist human rights lawyers. Even an arrest would not mean any such case would get past the CPS or, if it jumped that hurdle, past a jury. An officer stating that Rishi Sunak said it was ‘OK’ probably wouldn’t carry much weight.

Officers making an arrest under these circumstances could, if their assumed powers of arrest seemed flawed, face an IOPC investigation especially if the IOPC perceived there to be a racial element in the officer’s actions.

The Commissioner would appear to have fought his corner when attending his ‘naughty step,’ meeting pointing out that current legislation was insufficient. It also transpired that Sir Mark, before he headed the Met, was involved in a 2021 Commission for Countering Terrorism report which concluded that gaps within current legislation had left it harder to tackle “hateful extremism.”

Another question for the Home Secretary that may or may not have been asked, was why, despite concerns from police forces over many years, Hizb-Ut-Tahrir was not declared a proscribed organisation by the government as in many other countries. The Prime Minister was asked that question today in the commons and, as Prime Ministers so often do, gave a typically evasive reply.

During the same debate, Conservative MPs queued up to criticise the Met for its handling of Saturday’s protests. Whilst I didn’t view the entire debate, I didn’t hear one MP from any side complement the Met on their handling of the protests and other aspects of the crisis.

Clearly more arrests in relation to the protests together with numerous Islamophobic and anti-Semitic incidents, by both the Met and other forces across the country, will follow. Hundreds of officers will be diverted from normal duties in order to deal with issues arising from the death and destruction in the Middle East.

Officers of all ranks however, will be only too well aware that they will be on a hiding to nothing from the media, politicians and activists from across the political spectrum.

Chris Hobbs is a former Special Branch officer who has been covering protests as an observer for Police Oracle

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