Eyewitness: Sunderland’s Mackem’s, pro-Palestinians and a ‘national strike’

Chris Hobbs observes another busy weekend for Met public order serials as top flight football celebrations mixed with an assortment of political protest.

Three years ago, Sunderland supporters descended on Trafalgar Square the night before their Division One play-off final against Wycombe. Flares were set off and some of the more inebriated frolicked in the fountains. Whilst the Met were taken by surprise, there were no issues.

Sunderland’s success saw them safely promoted into the Championship and another play-off final could see them reaching the promised land of the Premiership. It was clear from social media that the pre-match gathering in 2022 would be repeated and so it proved.

This time however, the Met were ready and there were plenty of carriers visible in and around Trafalgar Square. Most officers were ‘kitted’ which may have been the result of ugly clashes between Coventry and Sunderland supporters just weeks previously. However, a walk around a near packed Trafalgar Square revealed a number of families with the overwhelming majority bedecked in the red and white of Sunderland Football Club.

This pre-final gathering wasn’t, however, the only public order event on this Friday night. Just down the road in Whitehall, opposite Downing Street, there was yet another ‘emergency’ pro-Palestine protest due to the escalation of violence in Gaza.

Numbers were up on the previous emergency protest and, again, strangely, the protesters split themselves into two. One half were intent on listening to the speeches but indulged in chanting when prompted. The other half were happy to simply indulge themselves in a chant/song ‘fest.’

Also visible was the familiar figure of an ‘insert.’ ‘Inserts’ are a small number of pro-Israeli supporters who deliberately place themselves in the midst of a pro-Palestinian march or rally hoping to provoke a violent reaction. On this occasion however, the ‘insert’ in question was engaging in an intense but amicable debate with three female pro-Palestinian supporters.

When the rally finished, many of the more youthful element marched, chanting, along the Whitehall pavements toward Trafalgar Square and the ‘Mackems.’ Most Sunderland supporters who were in the Square, weren’t even aware of their presence however there were numerous fans on the roads and pavements around Trafalgar Square and along the Strand.

In fact, whilst some were hostile to the activists, others were supportive but most were mildly curious. However, as the marchers turned into the Strand, there was a mild altercation involving a handful of pro-Israelis whose presence hadn’t been obvious earlier.

Controversial arrest

The pro-Palestinians continued marching up the Strand towards Aldwych accompanied by about a dozen police officers. They didn’t stray into the road and largely ignored the one pro-Israeli Heckler who stayed with them.

On reaching the pedestrianised area outside Kings College, the march halted and speeches were made from the college steps. The heckler continued to heckle which I briefly captured on my phone.

The next day, the arrest of the heckler was captured on social media to the indignation of those on the pro-Israeli right of the political spectrum. This was, they claimed, against the principle of freedom of speech.

Interestingly, when the reverse situation occurs with pro-Palestinians materialising amongst pro-Israeli rallies or counter-protests, complaints are swiftly made to police together with demands for their removal and/or arrest. In those scenarios freedom of speech issues are rapidly moved off the agenda.

Napoli fans join the Sunderland party

On returning to Trafalgar Square, it became apparent that police officers were posted in a line across every entrance. Earlier attempts to keep the Square, alcohol free, had, according to one officer, been abandoned early in the evening. Supporters were climbing on the fountains that had been switched off in advance; flares could frequently be seen but despite the inebriated state of the majority of fans, the atmosphere remained good natured.

I decided enough was enough but as I began to make my way up Charing Cross Road, another group of around 200 appeared walking towards Trafalgar Square. The fact that they were carrying large blue flags added to the puzzle but gradually it became clear that these were celebrating London based Napoli fans whose team had been crowned Italian champions earlier that evening.

There was some concern as to how the two groups of fans would react to each other; chants of “Sunderland and Napoli” assuaged those misgivings. Before entering Trafalgar Square, the Napoli fans turned around and with some of their newly found Sunderland friends made their way back along the Charing Cross Road and were last seen entering Leicester Square.

Somehow, the Westminster Street cleaners managed, overnight, to restore Trafalgar Square to its normal pristine self in time for Saturday’s influx of tourists.

National strike day

In Whitehall the following day, the scene was set for a ………national strike. According to social media, Saturday the 24th of May would see a ‘national strike’ across the UK. Dozens of towns and cities had a designated meeting point where ‘strikers’ would gather at 12 noon. It was pointed out that a ‘national strike’ on the Saturday of a bank holiday weekend wouldn’t, perhaps, make much of an impact,

In fact, about 200 ‘strikers’ materialised at the gates of Downing Street. Strangely, the steel barriers normally placed in front of the Downing Street gates to keep protesters at a distance weren’t deployed on this occasion. There was a plethora of St. Georges flags and Union Jacks together with a UKIP flag. Most of the chanting was directed against Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the protesters were reinforced by about 30 Chagos islanders protesting at the recent government decision in respect of the island.

The UKIP leader engaged those participating for a short while and after around three hours, the conclusion of National Anthem saw the ‘strikers’ begin to disperse.

At other venues, the ‘strikers’ were opposed by anti-racist groups but the numbers tended to be between one and two hundred. In Coventry, two males from rival groups could be seen fighting. In Manchester police were deployed to keep small rival factions apart and it was a similar situation in Plymouth, Glasgow and Brighton and doubtless elsewhere.

Interestingly, there was speculation on social media that the reason these protests across the UK were labelled a ‘national strike,’ is because strikes are not subject to the same public order protest conditions.

It remains to see whether ‘national strikes’ will continue and gather momentum or whether, as suggested, these will morph into ‘national protests.’

Another protest took place on Saturday at Liverpool Street Station where trans activists and followers staged a sit-down protest on the station concourse, in protest against revised British Transport Police search procedures following the controversial Supreme Court decision in respect of the Equality Act.

Stop Press: More pro-Palestinian activism

On Wednesday evening I’d just finished an interview at the Westminster GB News studio in relation to the current state of British policing, when I noticed a direct message on ‘X’ that mentioned a pro-Palestine protest at Kings College. Instead of entering Charing Cross Station, I opted to walk up the Strand to see if the protest was continuing. I hadn’t gone far before I heard chanting. There was a very vocal pro-Palestinian protest outside Charing Cross Police Station being watched over by police.

It would appear that police were dealing with two issues during the course of the day. At Kings College, there was a pro-Palestinian protest which resulted in scuffles with police and footage on social media saw one male being arrested before being placed in a police van.

The other concerned harassment by pro-Palestinian activists of a film crew and an Israeli actress, Gal Gadot, who have been filming at locations in London. Police made five arrests and issued a statement explaining their action. Those arrested had been taken to Charing Cross police station hence the protest outside.

Whilst I and indeed other observers have commented that despite the ‘hype’ surrounding protests and counter-protests linked to the situation in Gaza, violent physical disorder across 2024 and 2025 has been limited.

This relatively small protest was, however, unpleasant in tone. Perhaps the presence of more militant, ‘direct action’ activists during the major protests is diluted by the majority who, whilst feeling strongly about the issues, want to keep the protests peaceful.

Having said that, here have been illicit acts of criminal damage and disruption by pro-Palestinian splinter groups such as Youth Demand and Palestine Action.

This protest outside Charing Cross saw, again, the targeting of a popular and highly respected Police Liaison Officer. At the previous national PSC protest this was carried out by an individual linked to the far-right. On this occasion it was a middle aged pro-Palestinian female who was ‘in the face’ of the officer in question. I also understand that he has been the victim of racist abuse in the past.

I further understand that female, Muslim officers who are clearly visible due to their wearing of hijabs have also been subject of abuse. One of those officers, who was performing duty in Whitehall at the conclusion of a pro-Palestinian march, took to social media to explain the level of intimidation she was subjected to.

At the most recent national PSC protest, the march was due to come across Waterloo. As the march approached, I noticed two female officers, one of whom was wearing a hijab, in isolation on the bridge. I pointed this out to supervisor who thanked me, but it would seem that this officer was determined to ‘tough it out’ and not be intimidated. I didn’t subsequently hear of any adverse reports in respect of any Muslim officer suffering intimidation, so hopefully common sense and decency prevailed.

At the time of writing and without wishing to tempt fate, it looks as if most Met officers should, this Saturday, be able to enjoy their day’s leave or perform duty within their own boroughs as opposed to being deployed to ‘aid’ duties.

Chris Hobbs is a former Special Branch officer who follows public order events for Police Oracle.

Category: OpsPublic Order