Eyewitness: A ‘Q’ word Saturday and a high security Sunday for the Met

Chris Hobbs attends some more protests that have taken on the added feature of knife arches and police bag searches.

After months of policing resource draining protests, last Saturday was a relatively ‘Q’ word day for the hard-pressed officers of the Met. The day began early with an event at the Soviet Memorial which can be seen in the adjacent park to the Imperial War Museum. May the 9th is celebrated as Victory Day in Russia and commemorates those who lost their lives in the war against the Nazis.

About 100 were gathered around the memorial which was bedecked in bouquets of flowers and some individuals wore a badge which could later be seen attached to President Putin. Also present were about a dozen individuals who were clearly supporting Ukraine and constantly expressed their views via a megaphone. Despite the animosity, the atmosphere was relaxed and watched over by a small number of officers.

Trafalgar Square saw a theme of yellow which is the colour adopted by the UK’s ‘Not my King’ anti-monarchist group. Speeches and songs were the order of the day but there were plenty of empty spaces in the Square itself which suggests that the demise of the monarchy isn’t imminent.

Several hundred protesters complete with a large dinosaur marched down the Mall and, watched by intrigued tourists at Buckingham Palace, an individual with a megaphone made a lengthy speech which included reference to Andrew and the Epstein files.

The next protest took place in the Old Palace Yard by Parliament and concerned fox and trial hunting while reference was also made to the plight of badgers despite their being protested since 1992. Several hundred activists and supporters were present, some with hunt saboteur flags. The atmosphere was relaxed with Chris Packham the main speaker. During the protest, there was some criticism of police for their approach to hunt meetings and the actions of those from the hunting community. I had moved on however to a small gathering of pro-Iranian monarchists opposite Parliament.

One incident that did take place without, it would seem any sort of permission, occurred in Leicester Square where pro-Palestinians staged some form of street theatre which purported to show masked Palestinian prisoners being ill-treated by their Israeli captors. This allegedly included being raped by dogs.

Underneath the arches 

The next day saw a protest linked to recent antisemitic attacks on the Jewish community under the heading; ‘Standing strong; extinguish extremism.’ The event was held in Whitehall and security was intense, ‘Knife arches’ staffed by police, as seen at the Notting Hill Carnival, were the first line of defence. After that, there was a search area where all bags were thoroughly searched by specially trained Met search teams. Officers also patrolled the area which is extensively covered by CCTV.

I didn’t pay too much attention to the speeches but there was some criticism of police amidst the general theme that the Jewish community was ‘under attack.’ Prime Minister Starmer predictably received harsh criticism: Works and Pensions Minister Pat McFadden, was brave enough to stick his head above the parapet and take to the stage but was booed. Interestingly there was also criticism, amplified on social media, that Reform’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, was invited to speak but on the day he was greeted with cheers.

Boy George also appeared via a satellite link and there were a number of well know figures from the Jewish community who spoke from the stage, many of whom echoed the theme that ‘more needs to be done.’

Despite the criticism from a number of speakers, at the conclusion of the meeting a ‘thank you’ to the police received a huge cheer and relations throughout the afternoon between police and those attending the rally, were excellent.

Also present at the meeting were significant numbers of Iranian monarchists complete with flags. They have formed a close ‘alliance’ with pro-Israeli activists over recent months. At the end of the rally, they formed up and marched up Whitehall and along Cockspur Street, presumably heading for the Iranian Embassy. They did, however, comply with police instructions to keep to the footway.

As an impartial observer, the event, to me, looked a success. It seemed that the numbers were closer to ten thousand than twenty and the atmosphere was determined but friendly. There was some post-event concern that the number of Israeli flags visible gave the impression that the event was a pro-Israeli rally rather than one focused on antisemitism within the UK and the consequent threat to the Jewish community.

In all there were three arrests including one for possession of a knife. Well-known activist Peter Tatchell was also seen reporting an alleged common assault to officers.

This Saturday the Met will field some 3,000 officers in an effort to keep Tommy Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom marchers and pro-Palestinian/anti-racist counter-protesters apart. This will inevitably involve police cordons causing lengthy diversions for bewildered tourists and other visitors. Both groups have been allocated rally destinations and steps taken to ensure there are no ‘overflow’ issues which caused some disorder during the last protest.

Oh, and the Cup Final between Manchester City and Chelsea also takes place on that day with a 3PM kick-off.

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

Category: Public Order