Home Minister Suella Braverman’s intervention in the work of the British police is completely unheard of, writes journalist Kirsi Crowley.
Kirsi Crowley Britannia reporter
LONDON Minister of the Interior Suella Braverman is out of his mind, even some of the ruling conservative party’s own supporters claim. The opposition demands the resignation of the minister.
The Home Secretary appointed the British police in The Times newspaper biased, because the police do not prohibit the expected demonstration in support of the Palestinians next weekend.
At the same time, the minister is throwing lighters into an already flammable atmosphere. The war in Gaza has heated up emotions in multicultural Britain. The police have already intervened in almost two hundred anti-Semitic and Palestinian acts of hate in London since Hamas carried out a bloody attack on Israel on October 7.
Huge demonstrations every weekend
In London, tens of thousands of protesters have already marched in front of the Parliament House on three Saturdays to demand a ceasefire and Israel to stop the bombing of Gaza. The marchers represent different ethnic groups. The demonstrations have been reasonably peaceful, even though the streets have been full.
Police helicopters have been buzzing over the streets. The police have arrested very few people. For example, demonstrators who have carried signs supporting the extremist organization Hamas have been arrested.
The interior minister, who enjoys the support of the extreme right wing of the conservative party, has previously wanted the police to arrest even people carrying the Palestinian flag – and especially those who shout the well-known slogan “from the river to the sea”. It reads like this: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” According to Braverman, this calls for the destruction of Israel and thus represents anti-Semitism.
According to the police, the law does not prohibit standing on the street
The police refuse to interpret slogans and say that they intervene in disturbances defined by law. Greater London Police Chief Mark Rowley has said that the law does not prevent crowds from standing in the streets, so the police cannot prohibit demonstrations.
The police surely also know that banning a demonstration in London could anger large crowds and lead to riots later.
This coming weekend, Britain will celebrate the commemoration of the end of the First World War, when those who fell in the war and veterans will be remembered. Braverman and the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak consider the Palestinian protest inappropriate on this very important Saturday.
An angry Home Secretary bundled Gaza and Northern Ireland
Braverman is so incensed that he published his opinion in The Times without permission from the Prime Minister’s Office. In his opinion text, he describes the marchers on behalf of the Palestinians as an angry crowd of tens of thousands of people who present insulting shouts and signs, idolize terrorists and demonize Israel.
Being labeled as a supporter of terrorism angers the demonstrators, many of whom feel that they are mainly demanding peace and security for the Palestinians.
However, Braverman labeled the protests in the newspaper as hate marches.
– I don’t think they are just cries of distress for Gaza. They are the defense of the advantage of certain groups, especially Islamists – the kind we are used to seeing in Northern Ireland, the Home Secretary threw.
The Prime Minister’s Office is said to have asked him to drop the comparison to the republican protests against British rule during the Northern Ireland crisis. But Braverman went public with his opinion.
The Minister of the Interior is required to resign
Braverman claims that the police favor Palestinian supporters and left-wing sentiments.
The interior minister writes that the opponents of the corona restrictions were stopped, but the demonstrations defending the rights of black people were accepted during the corona restrictions. Because of him, the demonstrations of football fans are stopped, but the voice of the minorities is allowed to be heard. Rioting football fans are usually called hooligans in the media.
Many people’s jaws in Britain have dropped open when they read the Home Secretary’s rant. Even the Conservative Party’s own representatives are gasping for air. Members of Parliament have today made numerous complaints about Braverman to the so-called whip in charge of party discipline in Parliament.
Former Inspector General of the Police Department Tom Winsor criticizes Braverman for political pressure on the police and crossing the line of propriety. The opposition demands Braverman’s resignation and accuses him of encouraging extremism and intensifying the confrontation not only in relation to Israel and Gaza, but now also in Britain in relation to the still sensitive situation in Northern Ireland.
The Prime Minister’s office did not accept Braverman’s writing at least in its entirety, but Sunak says he still trusts Braverman. This raises the question of whether Sunak has embraced Braverman’s strong opinions to appease the right wing of the party, which has lost support.
On Saturday, Palestinian supporters will march in front of the US embassy in London in an increasingly fiery atmosphere. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says the police will be responsible if there is a disturbance in the crowd.
In any case, the police is now in the eye of a political storm, and in this storm the independent authority of the law enforcer is measured.