Suella Braverman threatens ‘further action’ over Gaza protests and claims London ‘polluted by hate’

Suella Braverman has threatened “further action” against pro-Palestine protesters following a march in London.

Over 300,000 people calling for a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Gaza marched through the city centre on Saturday, while more than 120 counter-protesters were arrested in and around Westminster.

Footage shared online showed the counter-protesters, many of whom were from far-right groups, clashing with police near the Cenotaph.

The Met Police have also launched numerous calls for information into potential hate crimes following reports of anti-Semitic chants and signs at the pro-Palestine march.

In a statement, Ms Braverman said: “Our brave police officers deserve the thanks of every decent citizen for their professionalism in the face of violence and aggression from protesters and counter-protesters in London yesterday”.

The Home Secretary added that it was an “outrage” that multiple officers were “injured doing their duty” amid the protests after the Met confirmed that nine of its officers were injured.

She went on to directly refer to incidents at the pro-Palestine march, adding: “The sick, inflammatory and, in some cases, clearly criminal chants, placards and paraphernalia openly on display at the march mark a new low.

“Antisemitism and other forms of racism together with the valorising of terrorism on such a scale is deeply troubling.

“This can’t go on. Week by week, the streets of London are being polluted by hate, violence, and antisemitism. Members of the public are being mobbed and intimidated. Jewish people in particular feel threatened. Further action is necessary.”

Her statement did not specifically single out the violent far-right protests by name, aside from the reference to both “protesters and counter-protesters”.

Opponents including Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, Scotland’s first minister Humza Yousaf and Labour’s shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper have attempted to link the counter-protests – which police said on Saturday was the source of most violent altercations – to the Home Secretary’s past rhetoric about pro-Palestinian protests, which she refers to as “hate marches”.

The Home Secretary was heavily criticised ahead of the protest for claiming in an article for The Times that the marches were “an assertion of primacy by certain groups — particularly Islamists — of the kind we are more used to seeing in Northern Ireland”.

She also claimed that “some of Saturday’s march group organisers have links to terrorist groups, including Hamas” and suggested there is “a perception that senior police officers play favourites when it comes to protesters”.

No 10 has stated it was “looking into what happened” in relation to the article, after confirming that its contents were “not agreed” by Downing Street.

Numerous Cabinet ministers have already distanced themselves from her comments, with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt stating that “the words that she used are not words that I myself would have used”.