MPs ‘naive’ on policing marches as Sunak demands robust action, says ex-Met chief
A former Metropolitan Police chief superintendent has hit out at the political “naivety” over policing marches as Rishi Sunak demanded “robust” action from forces.
Dal Babu, who served for more than 30 years with the Met, claimed politicians wanted to “dictate” how forces handle demonstrations as the Prime Minister insisted the Government would back officers who “take action” at pro-Palestinian rallies.
In a speech outside No10 on Friday night, Mr Sunak vowed to crack down on Islamist and far-right “extremists” he accused of trying to undermine “democracy itself”.
He revealed he told senior police chiefs he expected protests to be policed rather than simply managed, with pro-Palestinian marches set to continue across the UK today.
Mr Babu told i: “This idea that you see a potential offence happening and that you rush in and make those arrests is incredibly naive on the part of politicians.
“This is where it becomes an issue. Is it the politicians who decide what the tactics are or is it the police officers who decide the tactics?
“I think it’s worrying if we’re going to have a situation where politicians are trying to dictate what happens.
“I think there was an attempt to say to police ‘do more’, but I think the police are doing as much as they can. I think there’s a naivety around how operational policing works.”
In his address last night, Mr Sunak claimed the UK’s streets had been “hijacked” by people “hostile” to British values during protests in support of a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
He challenged Scotland Yard to adopt a more robust response to policing demonstrations as he set out a new framework” to tackle “the root causes” of extremism.
Mr Sunak criticised the beaming of “antisemitic tropes” onto Big Ben in the middle of a vote on Israel/Gaza and calls for “violent Jihad” during demonsrations..
Support for the anti-terrorism Prevent programme would be “redoubled”, Mr Sunak said, to “stop young minds being poisoned by extremism”
Mr Babu described comments by Mr Sunak that the UK was descending into “mob rule” as “Braverman-lite” as he accused the former Home Secretary of “emboldening the far-right” by branding pro-Palestinian demonstrations “hate marches”.
He added: “The comments made by Suella Braverman, who’s talked about hate marches, Sunak talking about mobs is not particularly helpful if you’re trying to calm things down.
“I think we just need to let the police get on with their job, the police are the experts.
“Ultimately, you can put as much legislation as you want but unless there is the police resources, and the police tactics that are able to deliver them, they will remain bits of legislation.
“That seems to be the difficulty that politicians have in getting their heads around demanding police do something at police demonstrations.”
MPs have spoken of increased levels of intimidation from pro-Palestinian supporters, including having their homes targeted by protesters.
Mr Sunak met with senior officers after the Home Office announced a £31m security package to protect MPs from threats.
Measures included providing elected politicians with a dedicated police contact to liaise with over safety issues.
In his speech, the Prime Minister raised concerns that Jewish and Muslim communities are living in fear amid growing anger over the Middle East conflict.
Mr Sunak — who in November voiced his support for banning pro-Palestinian marches during the weekend of Remembrance Day — said: “This week, I have met with senior police officers and made clear that it is the public’s expectation that they will not merely manage these protests, but police them.
“And I say this to the police: we will back you when you take action.”
It followed the victory of the hardline pro-Palestine campaigner George Galloway in the Rochdale by-election, which Mr Sunak described as “beyond alarming”, highlighting his “glorification of Hezbollah” and “dismissal of the horror of what happened on October 7th”.
