A sigh of relief at the end of a challenging day for the Met

Chris Hobbs follows a group of rival protests at the centre of 'two-tier policing' allegations which, as it turns out, did not result in widespread disorder.

Whoever was responsible for compiling the threat assessment in respect of Saturday’s protest with the dual theme of ‘two tier policing,’ and ‘we want our country back,’ could be forgiven for expecting the worst.

They would have considered the events of November the 11th and April 23rd and concluded that a large, hugely expensive policing operation was required especially in the light of other events taking place in the capital.

The compiling officers would have included in the assessment the fact that on Armistice Day ‘protect the Cenotaph patriots,’ forced their way through a police cordon before the event began. Whilst some left after proceedings were over, many others remained. A large group went to Soho where they threw missiles at officers. Another large group made their way to Vauxhall Bridge and were prevented from attacking the tens of thousand strong pro-Palestinian march that was on its way to Nine Elms, by serials of ‘kitted’ police.

Hundreds more remained in Parliament Square where there were clashes with police throughout the day. In the evening police had to work very hard to protect unsuspecting young pro-Palestinian protesters making their way home. Despite the efforts of officers, some suffered dreadful racist abuse.

More recently, on St. George’s Day, an attempt by those ‘celebrating,’ to force their way through a police cordon in Whitehall before the event, saw two nearby mounted officers intervening. This filmed incident resulted in widespread allegations on right wing social media of ‘police brutality,’ In fact, as one TSG officer confirmed, it was merely a bit of ‘push and shove,’ where batons weren’t needed to be drawn and where there were no injuries of note.

Later, as those attending the rally adjourned to the pubs at the top of Whitehall, a fight broke out between participants. Police intervened, made arrests and, as so often seen on Friday and Saturday nights, all present turned on the police with threats, verbal abuse and the occasional missile.

In another incident, a 70-year-old man who had attended the rally with his daughter, was punched in the face. The assailant was arrested and I provided first aid to the shocked man and his furious daughter.

So, the portents were not good especially as the advance and very effective publicity for the event suggested that between twenty and thirty thousand could be expected to attend; a number that seemed especially feasible given the end of the club football season.

Assembling at Victoria Station

There were clearly issues with the route given the other events taking place in London but an agreement was reached that would see protesters meeting at Victoria Station and taking the Vauxhall Bridge/Millbank route to Parliament Square.

Large numbers gathered outside the station while arriving passengers unaware of the protest, found several station entrances and exits closed thus forcing them to walk through the protesters; a strange decision to say the least.

I scuttled off along Victoria Street to Parliament Square where I was less than surprised to see large areas barriered off with bewildered tourists and football fans in town for the champions league final, trying to work out how to effectively negotiate their way around.

I walked back down Millbank and met the marchers as they turned left at Vauxhall Bridge. There was no formal head of the procession as is often seen and a distinct lack of placards but there was a plethora of Union and Cross of St. George flags.

The march, the children and that Allah chant

As Parliament Square was approached the march came across small groups of foreign tourists walking in the opposite direction. They were racially abused, by, it must be said, a few not the majority. Others, walking in the same direction as the protesters tried to leave the march at Parliament by taking the footway. Alas, this was blocked by a female officer who directed the frightened tourists back into the march. I tried to intercede but was told that she had to ‘do as she was told.’

Later the next day, footage was widely circulated by a group, frequently accused of being far right, that showed young children on the march who were somewhere between the ages of 8 and 10, chanting the familiar mantra of; ‘Allah, Allah who the fc*k is Allah.’ That this group felt that the footage illustrated a positive aspect of the march is somewhat bewildering but later the next day it was taken down.

The other chant, also heard on the day was ‘Allah is a paedo,’ which again has bewildered many observers.

Other than the comparatively minor issues referred to above, the march reached Parliament Square without incident. Westminster Station had been shut and this also meant the closure of toilets in the Westminster station linked subway. Four temporary toilets placed close to the stage were to prove woefully inadequate especially for those who’s been consuming alcohol in the hostelries adjacent to Victoria Station.

Some had brought alcohol with them, but routes to the pubs normally used by protesters, were cut off by barriers and officers. This even included the normally popular Tesco Express. Whist some were still the ‘worse for wear,’ alcohol was not to prove a significant factor during this event.

The marchers piled into Parliament Square with most positioning themselves on the grassed area in front of which was a giant screen, apparently one of the biggest in the business. Interestingly, whilst most of grassed area was occupied, there was plenty of room on the paved areas around the Square and there was no ‘spillover,” whatsoever onto the roads surrounding the Square. I have been to protests where both Parliament Square and the roads surrounding it had been rammed with protesters.

The turnout was, according to various sources and my own estimation, between five and six thousand. As stated above, in view of the advance social media publicity which was well timed and orchestrated plus the fact that the football season had finished, many seasoned observers, including myself expected a turnout of between twenty and thirty thousand. A protest in 2018 organised after Tommy Robinson’s incarceration attracted 15,000 supporters to a rally in Whitehall. Whatever the Met’s threat assessment may have predicted; many officers experienced in public order, also expected those sorts of numbers.

If the organisers were disappointed, they didn’t show it and, in any event, would have taken comfort from the several hundred thousand that were watching on-line according to an announcement from the stage; these figures were later confirmed.

The rally and ‘Lawfare’

As on St George’s Day, Tommy Robinson was greeted like the Messiah and he was to compare or host proceedings throughout the afternoon. I didn’t listen to everything that was said or intend to repeat in detail what I did hear but for those who want to follow proceedings there is plenty of footage online.

It was clear that there were three main threads running through the afternoon; the first revolved around two-tier policing, the second focused on ‘we want our country back,’ while the third had much in common with those on the hard left; that the UK was becoming a totalitarian state.

Speaking from the stage eventually gave way to the main feature of the afternoon; the film, Lawfare, which again can now be found on the internet.

It is a slickly produced and well-edited affair and was divided into chapters. Much of the content was directed against Muslims or, as they were described, Islamists and specific reference was made to Pakistani grooming gangs. Carefully edited footage of the police and their relevant ‘two-tier,’ actions produced a reaction from the crowd but was not as hostile as could have been anticipated.

Despite the slick production, I personally felt that watching for an hour a half was asking a lot of the crowd most of whom were standing. Several hundred were seen leaving as the film progressed and if the crowd had become somewhat soporific by the film’s end they quickly livened up as still pictures of the good and the bad appeared on the screen. Rishi Sunak, who appeared before and after the film was the main villain apart from, perhaps, the Met’s Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley.

Other well- known individuals from the political right appeared via video link or pre-recorded footage but the biggest cheer of the afternoon occurred when a photo of Donald Trump appeared followed by chants of ‘Trump, Trump, Trump.’

Further individuals appeared on stage, some to be thanked while most gave brief orations. The Rally ended with the Lord’s Prayer recited by all and a chant of God is Great. Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline concluded the main event and a disco/dance session followed.

Mainly incident free

The afternoon had been mainly incident free. At one stage a masked youth on a bike appeared on the roads surrounding the Square. If he had just been masked, he might have got away with it but he was also wearing, against his black jacket, a green armband.

This goaded a number of the crowd who started to chase him. As he approached the police barriers, he was grabbed by officers who managed to get him and his bike to safety and away from his angry pursuers.

In another incident, captured on film, a powerfully built drunken male was seen hurling abuse at a Muslim female before he was arrested by officers.

The rally’s dispersal was complicated by road closures. There was some drunken abuse directed towards officers at the barriers but most held reasonable conversations with those officers and accepted the directions given. With the closures and designated pubs for Real Madrid and Dortmund fans, there was no opportunity to congregate in licensed premises at the top of Whitehall, as had happened at the conclusion of St. Georges Day rally and many doubtless wanted to get home and perhaps down their own local for the Champions League final.

Anti-racist counter-protest

A counter-protest against Tommy Robinson was organised by the anti-racist left by Downing Street and would be followed by a planned march to Parliament Square. Police were prepared for a sizeable anti-racist response to the Parliament Square event as there has been in the past to Tommy Robinson rallies. In fact, a miserly 200 individuals turned up and had no chance of getting anywhere near Parliament Square; in fact, those in Parliament Square weren’t even aware of their existence.  Perhaps the number of other leftist causes, notably events in Gaza plus the forthcoming General Election has rather sapped both their energy and strength.

Pro-Palestinian activists

Some may have preferred to opt for the Youth Demand pro-Palestinian ‘day of action’ gathering in Jubilee Gardens by the London Eye. The Met promptly imposed conditions on the gathering namely that it had to be static.

That didn’t prevent the group from ‘taking action,’ and attempting to block the nearby York Road which resulted in nine arrests. Later that day, footage emerged of disorder on Tower Bridge when pro-Palestinian protesters blocked traffic and set-off flares. It was an unedifying spectacle dealt with initially by officers on mutual aid from Wales.

This was also the second example of disorder by pro-Palestinian activists in less than a week thus, it could be argued, handing the high ground to those who organised and attended the largely peaceful protest in Parliament Square.

Champions League arrests, ‘free the hostages’ and the future

It was at Wembley Stadium where officers saw challenging behaviour during the policing of the Champions League Final. Attempts by groups to storm the turnstiles or otherwise gain illicit entry, didn’t meet with the same success as occurred during the England v Italy Euro final in July 2021. In all 53 arrests were made including 5 for a pitch invasion that, according to one media outlet, would be handsomely rewarded by a Russian millionaire.

The Met hierarchy must have been relieved that potentially the most challenging day of public order activity for some years passed without major incident. The following day saw a ‘free the hostages,’ march in Central London which attracted many thousands and was, as expected, powerful, emotive and dignified.

After the events of last weekend there will still be concerns in respect of future protests and counter-protests over coming months especially in the likely context of a changing political landscape.

As far as this Saturday is concerned, a further large Palestine Solidarity Campaign protest is scheduled which will almost certainly attract a counter-protest. Doubtless any police threat assessment will now have to factor in the poor behaviour of some pro-Palestinian elements at protests during the past few days.

A further, ‘we want our country back,’ themed protest in due on the 27th of July which will also include a petition being presented to New Scotland Yard demanding the resignation of the Met’s Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley.

The slogan for that day; “LONDON IS OURS,” is already being promulgated and it remains to be seen whether that will deter shoppers and tourists on the day especially those who are Muslim.

Chris Hobbs is a former Special Branch officer who follows public order operations as an observer for Police Oracle.