LONDON: More than 50 British MPs called on Thursday for an independent investigation into the policing of Palestine protests during which dozens of people were arrested in London in mid-January.
A cross-party letter from six parliamentary groups and independent MPs expressed their serious concern over the Metropolitan Police’s actions on Jan. 18, requesting an investigation from Yvette Cooper, the home secretary.
At least 77 people were arrested during the Palestine protest, while two MPs, Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, who attended the protest, have been interviewed under caution by the Met Police.
The MPs said that they were “deeply troubled ... by the obstacles put in place by the Metropolitan Police ahead of the demonstration of 18th January, as well as the policing on the day.”
For 15 consecutive months since the start of Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, there have been 24 national demonstrations across the UK in solidarity with Palestinians. These rallies called for a ceasefire in Gaza and drew between 100,000 and 1 million demonstrators each.
“(These protests) have been an important democratic expression of the strength of public feeling on this issue,” the MPs said in the letter.
They requested Cooper to review footage of protesters “filtering through” the police lines from Whitehall into Trafalgar Square in central London, rather than “breaching police lines” as was later claimed.
“There is a direct conflict in the respective positions of officers facilitating the progress of a delegation to lay flowers, and the allegation by the police that their lines had been forcibly breached.
“Clearly being invited to proceed is wholly inconsistent with the allegation of a forcible breach,” the MPs added.
The organizers of the Jan. 18 Palestine protest planned to bring flowers to the BBC as a symbolic gesture against what they see as the BBC’s complicity in its Gaza coverage. If blocked by police, they would lay the flowers at the police’s feet instead.
However, due to police restrictions, protesters were prohibited from marching toward the BBC headquarters. Instead, they chose to lay flowers in Trafalgar Square, after which subsequent arrests occurred. Among those arrested was Chris Nineham, the vice-chair of the Stop the War Coalition.
The MPs added that they were concerned about the Met Police’s manner and the “apparent denial of civil liberties and freedom to protest.”
Andy McDonald, MP for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East, said that there were serious questions for the Metropolitan Police to answer about their handling of the Palestine protests.
“There is a strong case for the home secretary to establish an independent investigation into the police’s decisions on Saturday, January 18th, but also a wider review of public order legislation, which Labour in opposition said would erode historic freedoms of peaceful protest,” he said.
