{"id":582282,"date":"2026-05-13T19:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T19:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/582282\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T19:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T19:48:09","slug":"met-warns-about-hate-speech-at-unite-the-kingdom-and-palestine-marches-metropolitan-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/582282\/","title":{"rendered":"Met warns about hate speech at Unite the Kingdom and Palestine marches | Metropolitan police"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Metropolitan police<\/a> have said organisers of this weekend\u2019s Unite the Kingdom and March for Palestine demonstrations will be held responsible for any hate speech connected with the events, in what they expect to be \u201cone of the busiest days for policing in London in recent years\u201d.<\/p>\n

Tens of thousands of people are expected to march in the capital for the Unite the Kingdom event in central London<\/a> and the Nakba: 78 March for Palestine from south Kensington to central London. Senior officers said protesters would face \u201cthe highest degree of control\u201d. The FA Cup final is also due to be held at Wembley on Saturday.<\/p>\n

In a briefing, James Harman, a deputy assistant commissioner, said a \u201czero tolerance\u201d operation of \u201cunprecedented\u201d scale would include 4,000 officers, at a cost of \u00a34.5m, and \u201cswift and decisive\u201d action against disorder and hate speech.<\/p>\n

Live facial recognition will be used in an area of Camden where Unite the Kingdom attenders are expected to gather outside the event itself, \u201ccomparing the faces of those walking past, with the faces of those on a specific watchlist\u201d, Harman added.<\/p>\n

It is not expected that facial recognition will be used on pro-Palestine marchers.<\/p>\n

Harman said: \u201cFor the first time, we\u2019ve also imposed conditions relating to the speakers at these protests.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese conditions make the organisers responsible for ensuring that speakers they invite don\u2019t break the law by using these events to platform from unlawful extremism to \u2026 hate speech.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth the speakers and the organisers will face consequences if that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cIf hate speech is used at the rally, we, the police will intervene, then and there with the speaker. Our condition places the responsibility on the organiser as well as the speaker to stay within the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Protesters hold placards and wave Palestinian flags during a march organised by the Palestine Coalition in London in March. Photograph: Justin Tallis\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Harman said armed police were \u201cavailable for use\u201d in an operation involving dispersal powers, enhanced powers to search and remove face coverings, \u201chelicopters, drones, dog units, police horses, armoured vehicles, if we need them, and dedicated investigative teams \u2026 at a time of continued global instability and tension, which we know has the potential to play out on the streets of London\u201d.<\/p>\n

People who call for \u201cintifada\u201d or \u201cdeath to the IDF\u201d face being arrested and charged.<\/p>\n

Harman said the day \u201chas the potential to be one of the busiest days for policing in London in recent years\u201d and followed \u201ca sustained campaign of arson targeting Jewish Londoners\u201d and \u201cincreased concern more broadly, including in Muslim communities\u201d.<\/p>\n

The senior officer said while many came with \u201cgood and lawful intentions\u201d to Palestine protests, \u201cwe\u2019ve routinely seen arrests for stirring up racial hatred and for supporting terrorist organisations \u2026 many Jewish Londoners feel intimidated and afraid of these protests\u201d.<\/p>\n

There were still \u2018more than 50 outstanding and unidentified suspects for offences\u2019 from the September Unite the Kingdom march, the Met\u2019s James Harman said. Photograph: Lucy North\/PA<\/p>\n

Speaking of Unite the Kingdom, Harman added: \u201cAmong the crowds we have seen, of course, many peaceful attendees. But we have also seen anti-Muslim chanting, and incidents where people have been arrested for religiously and racially aggravated offences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the Unite the Kingdom protest in September last year, there was violence in multiple locations as protesters attacked police officers and tried to reach opposing groups,\u201d he added, saying there were arrests throughout and \u201cmore than 50 outstanding and unidentified suspects for offences from that day\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThe nature and scale of these protests has left Muslim communities and those from other ethnic minority groups, feeling scared \u2026 they avoid central London, they avoid transport hubs, and they change their plans because they are worried about crossing paths with the Unite the Kingdom supporters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harman said the FA Cup final brought an \u201cadditional challenge\u201d, with officers mindful of the history of football hooligan groups supporting causes fronted by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, the organiser of the Unite the Kingdom events, known as Tommy Robinson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThe scale of the operation is unprecedented in recent years. The plan for it has been ongoing for months \u2026 and we have been clear since the outset that we would not accept routes that would increase the risk of intimidation to any particular community, or that would risk the two protests coming together.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the context we\u2019re operating in, the public expects our officers to act wherever they see or hear antisemitism, anti-Muslim abuse, incitements of violence or language that points to support for terrorists \u2026 our specialist investigators will be working through the night if they have to.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the question of the events being allowed to go ahead, he said: \u201cThe threshold for a ban is very tightly and precisely prescribed in law \u2026 and we don\u2019t feel that that specific criteria, has been met on this occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Metropolitan police have said organisers of this weekend\u2019s Unite the Kingdom and March for Palestine demonstrations will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":582283,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-582282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}