Met chief defends force for not arresting chanters of ‘jihad’ at anti-Israel protest
Mark Rowley says laws should be changed if politicians want tougher action taken Metropolitan police commissioner, Mark Rowley, has defended his force's decision not to arrest those chanting "jihad" at an anti-Israel protest, stating that the police cannot enforce taste or decency but can enforce the law. Rowley also suggested that laws should be changed to achieve tougher action. This comes after a meeting with home secretary Suella Braverman, who demanded answers on why police did not arrest those responsible for chanting "Jihad". Downing Street and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer have both stated that current laws are sufficient. Rowary, who served as head of counter-terrorism in 2021, co-wrote a report on extremism that warned of a "gaping chasm" in laws allowing extremists to operate with impunity.
نشرت : منذ عامين بواسطة Peter Walker, Vikram Dodd في Politics
The Metropolitan police commissioner has hit back at criticism of his force’s decision not to makes arrests after shouts of “jihad” at an anti-Israel protest, declaring that the police cannot enforce “taste and decency” and laws should be changed if politicians want tougher action taken.
Mark Rowley was speaking after meeting home secretary Suella Braverman on Monday, with the senior politician demanding answers on why police did not arrest those responsible for chanting “jihad” at a rally of the Islamist Hizb-ut-Tahrir group on Saturday.
The commissioner said the law may need to change, while the controversy over whether current laws are sufficient saw Downing Street say there were no plans to change them and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer saying any gaps should be plugged.
Rowley said he believed after the meeting that the home secretary was thinking “hard” about whether laws may need changing.
Rowley said:”I was explaining how we are absolutely ruthless in tackling anybody who puts their foot over the legal line. We are accountable to the law – we can’t enforce taste or decency – but we can enforce the law. We’ve made 34 arrests so far … We have another 22 cases … where we are searching for individuals.”
In 2021, Rowley, who had finished with service with the Met in 2018 as head of counter-terrorism, co-wrote a report on extremism.
It warned of a “gaping chasm” in laws allowing “extremists to operate with impunity”.
The report was for the Commission on Countering Extremism, which advises ministers, and went to government who so far have not taken any action
In 2023, Sir John Saunders told the government to hurry up its consideration of the Commission’s findings in his report into the Manchester Arena bombings.
Rowley said of the meeting with Braverman: “The conversation finished around the line of the law. It’s our job to enforce to that line. It’s parliament’s job to draw that line. Maybe events of the moment are illustrating that some of the lines aren’t quite in the right place.
“There have been reports from counter-extremism commissioners, the Law Commission and more recently Sir John Saunders at the Manchester Inquiry/Inquest that the law needs to be stronger in dealing with extremism. I know the home secretary is thinking hard about that. So a constructive meeting, in difficult times, where sober and determined heads are what’s required. “
In an interview shared with news organisations, Rowley doubled down on his view that there were gaps in the law.
Multiple sources have confirmed to the Guardian that the specific decision that the shouts of “jihad” at the Saturday protest were not breaking the law were taken by police as well as lawyers from the counter-terrorism division of the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales.
The Met commissioner said: “The law around hate crime and terrorism over recent decades hasn’t taken full account of the ability of extremist groups to steer round those laws and propagate some pretty toxic messages through social media. Those lines probably need redrawing.
“There are many countries around the world with different frameworks that have some advantages. Hizb-ut-Tahrir… are banned in Germany and most of the Muslim world.
“There are lessons to be learned, but it is for politicians and parliament to draw the line. I’m focused … on enforcing the letter of the law and putting thousands of extra officers out in communities to reassure people who are understandably fearful given the ghastly events across the world.”
The events of the weekend saw Downing Street say that police already have “extensive powers” to take action against demonstrators who chanted about “jihad”, while Keir Starmer said ministers should consider new legislation.
Speaking on Monday, Starmer, who was director of public prosecutions before entering politics, said that, while it was a matter for the police, ministers should look into lessons from the review co-led by Rowley.
“I think there have already been identified some gaps in the law in a previous review under this government and I think the government needs to look at whether there are gaps in the law that need to be addressed as well,” the Labour leader told reporters on a visit to Wales.
Downing Street appeared to have a different view.“We do believe that police have extensive powers in this space,” Rishi Sunak’s official spokesperson said, when asked if officers could or should have done more. “We will continue to discuss with them so that there is clarity and agreement about how they can be deployed on the ground.”
On Sunday, the immigration minister, Robert Jenrick, said the use of “jihad” at the Hizb ut-Tahrir rally, which was separate from a much larger pro-Palestine rally, was “inciting terrorist violence” and needed “to be tackled with the full force of the law”.
Sunak’s spokesperson declined to endorse this view, while saying that the scenes “will have likely have been incredibly distressing for people to witness, not least for the UK’s Jewish community, who deserve to feel safe at what must be an incredibly traumatic time”.
He said: “That’s why the government is working so closely with the police and other groups to ensure there is clarity for those officers on the ground to take action where they believe the law has been broken.
“That decision is an operational one and will remain so, and that is right. But we will continue to discuss with the police about what more can be done.”
المواضيع: Europe, Israel