Two marches alongside three London derby football matches are set to stretch the Met Police’s resources on Saturday afternoon
The Metropolitan Police has drafted in hundreds of officers from forces across Britain ahead of packed Saturday with protests and football fans expected on the streets of the capital (photo from previous London protest).
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The Metropolitan Police is drafting in hundreds of officers from forces across Britain ahead of packed Saturday with protests and football fans expected to swarm the streets of London.
More than 1,600 officers will descend on the capital to keep the peace amid demonstrations by right-wing activist Tommy Robinson’s followers and a counter-demonstration by Stand Up to Racism.
Around 500 officers have been drafted in from across the country following a call for help from London’s police force.
Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley Lennon, has organised the ‘Unite the Kingdom’ march which will begin near the Southbank at 11am on Saturday.
The group is set to march along York Road and over Westminster Bridge before stopping at Whitehall for a rally.
Tommy Robinson (pictured), real name Stephen Yaxley Lennon, has organised the ‘Unite the Kingdom’ march which will begin near the Southbank at 11am on Saturday.
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The counter protest will form up in Russell Square from midday before marching through Kingsway, Aldwych and the Strand to the northern end of Whitehall for a counter-rally.
The protests will contend with a packed schedule of football fixtures across the capital for much of the afternoon.
A heated derby between Charlton and Millwall at 12.30pm in south London could demand extra resources from the police, ahead of a Premier League meeting between London sides West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur at 5.30pm.
This comes alongside home fixtures for Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Fulham and a final all-London meeting between Brentford and Chelsea.
The Met’s Commander Clair Haynes, who is in charge of the public order policing operation in London this weekend, said: “This will be a very busy day with protest, sporting fixtures, concerts and other events.
A packed London football schedule will further stretch police resources.
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“The Met is used to delivering the sort of complex and large-scale policing operation that is required to keep the public safe and we have a detailed plan to do so on Saturday.
“I am grateful to the many hundreds of Met officers who are being deployed away from their day to day roles and to the 500 or so officers from around the country who have responded to our request for support.”
Commander Haynes added: “The main focus of the operation is on the two protests in central London. We will approach them as we do any other protests, policing without fear or favour, ensuring people can exercise their lawful rights but being robust in dealing with incidents or offences should they occur.
“In the run up to the protests we have been in close contact with the organisers, with local business and community representatives and with representatives of communities across London more broadly.
“We would ask all those taking part in the protests to be considerate of the communities they are passing through to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum.”