Police must be 'all over' pro-Palestine protests, Grant Shapps warns as the Government finalises plans to give officers more powers to restrict public assemblies
- Grant Shapps said regular mass marches could 'spill over' into hate speech
Police must be 'all over' pro-Palestine protests, Grant Shapps warned yesterday as the Government finalises plans to give officers more powers to restrict public assemblies.
The Defence Secretary said that the regular mass marches could 'spill over' into hate speech and anti-Semitism.
It comes ahead of the publication of a long-awaited report on political violence and disruption that will contain recommendations for ministers on clamping down on the activities of hard-Left groups who engage in criminal acts.
There have been more than 1,000 protests and vigils since the October 7 attacks, including weekly mass marches in London, with 600 arrests made. Policing the events has cost £40 million and involved some 55,000 officer shifts.
![Mr Shapps said both he and the Government more widely had been worried about the cumulative impact of the protests](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/05/19/22/85075919-13436291-image-a-98_1716154987677.jpg)
Mr Shapps said both he and the Government more widely had been worried about the cumulative impact of the protests
![Under new laws proposed by the Government, police will be able to arrest protesters who wear face coverings to conceal their identity. Pro-Palestinian supporters hold placards during Saturday's demonstration](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/05/19/22/85076421-13436291-image-a-106_1716155789714.jpg)
Under new laws proposed by the Government, police will be able to arrest protesters who wear face coverings to conceal their identity. Pro-Palestinian supporters hold placards during Saturday's demonstration
There were seven arrests as thousands marched in the capital on Saturday, including a man carrying a coffin with offensive language on it and another chanting 'Intifada revolution'. Officers also arrested a 74-year-old man at a counter-protest on suspicion of provocation of violence.
Lord Walney, whose review will be released tomorrow, said the marches are 'making sizeable parts of our Jewish community in London apprehensive at best about going into the centre of the city'.
'That is a deeply uncomfortable position,' he told Sky News. 'There has been a substantial level of criminality and disorder and anti-Semitic content around the margins of the marches.'
Under new laws proposed by the Government, police will be able to arrest protesters who wear face coverings to conceal their identity or for carrying flares or other fireworks. Activists who climb on war memorials could also face up to three months in jail and fines of £1,000.
![Home Office officials are also exploring how to tighten up the definition of 'relative cumulative disruption. A row of police officers stand between pro-Israel counter demonstrators and tens of thousands of protesters marching through central London](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/05/19/22/85076061-13436291-image-a-101_1716155175021.jpg)
Home Office officials are also exploring how to tighten up the definition of 'relative cumulative disruption. A row of police officers stand between pro-Israel counter demonstrators and tens of thousands of protesters marching through central London
![There were seven arrests as thousands marched in the capital on Saturday, including a man carrying a coffin with offensive language on it. Protesters march through central London in solidarity with the Palestinian people](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/05/19/22/85076083-13436291-image-a-102_1716155266281.jpg)
There were seven arrests as thousands marched in the capital on Saturday, including a man carrying a coffin with offensive language on it. Protesters march through central London in solidarity with the Palestinian people
Home Office officials are also exploring how to tighten up the definition of 'relative cumulative disruption', which must be taken into account when deciding whether a protest can go ahead, The Sunday Telegraph reported.
Gideon Falter, the chief executive of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, who was threatened with arrest last month for being 'openly Jewish' next to a protest, has met officials to discuss policing of the marches.
Mr Shapps said both he and the Government more widely had been worried about the cumulative impact of the protests. 'The police need to be very much all over these things,' he told GB News.
'It makes people very uncomfortable when these marches sometimes spill over from the legitimate right to protest . . . into anti-Semitism, into hate speech, racism . . . We absolutely back 100 per cent police taking the necessary action.'
A Home Office spokesman said the right to protest is a 'cornerstone of our democracy', but added: 'All communities should be able to go about their daily lives without fear. We have been clear with the police that they must use all the powers available to them to police protests appropriately and will always have our backing in doing so.'