Rishi Sunak says he has confidence in Met Police chief after protest row
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Rishi Sunak said he has confidence in Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley after criticism over how a Jewish man was treated at a pro-Palestinian march.
But the prime minister said Sir Mark still needs to work to rebuild the trust of the Jewish community.
Sir Mark had faced a call to resign after antisemitism campaigner Gideon Falter was called âopenly Jewishâ by police and threatened with arrest.
The Met has apologised and offered to meet Mr Falter to do so personally.
New footage of the exchange published by Sky News on Sunday shows Mr Falter telling officers he wanted to get to an area on the other side of where pro-Palestinian protesters were marching in London on 13 April.
Police officers do not let him pass and instead offer to escort him via another route, avoiding the protesters, so he will be âcompletely safeâ.
During the exchange, an officer claims Mr Falter is being âdisingenuousâ and was trying to âantagoniseâ others because he âtook it upon himselfâ to deliberately walk âright into the middleâ of the march.
Mr Falter, the head of the Campaign Against Antisemitism who was wearing a kippah, was described by an officer as âopenly Jewishâ.
He later told the BBC he felt he âwas being treated like a criminal for being Jewishâ and that police were âcurtailing the rights of law-abiding Londonersâ to walk wherever they like freely.
Home Secretary James Cleverly and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan are meeting Met Police commissioner Sir Mark for separate talks on Monday.
Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Mr Sunak said: âWhat happened was clearly wrong and itâs right that theyâve apologised for that.
âYes, I do have confidence him but thatâs on the basis that he works to rebuild the confidence and trust not just of the Jewish community but the wider public, particularly people in London, but more broadly.
âAnd you regain that trust and that confidence by making it clear that the police are not tolerating behaviour that we would all collectively deem as unacceptable when we see it.â
Mr Falter previously told the BBC âitâs time for Sir Mark Rowley to goâ â a call echoed by former home secretary Suella Braverman, who said it shows âthe wholesale failure to combat antisemitismâ by the police.
Ms Braverman said the police had taken sides at the protest, telling BBC Radio 4âs Today programme: âIf this march was peaceful, why was a Jewish man not able to cross the street peacefully?â
The Met apologised twice on Friday, and Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist has written to Mr Falter to offer a private meeting to apologise to him personally.
The London Jewish Forum â which includes representatives from the Board of Deputies of British Jews and other Jewish groups â said it met Sir Mark on Monday morning for talks, and that Met officers apologised again.
It said it would meet the police further to discuss the impact of the protests âin terms of disruption and intimidation of the Jewish communityâ, and urged the police and government to reduce the number of protests and move them to less disruptive locations.
Several politicians have criticised the forceâs handling of the exchange, although stopped short of calling for Sir Markâs resignation.
Deputy Foreign Secretary Andrew Mitchell said the Metâs response was âway over the topâ. Labourâs Shadow Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood described the footage as âvery concerningâ, but said the commissionerâs resignation was not âthe way forwardâ.
Former chief superintendent in the Met Police Dal Babu told BBC Breakfast on Monday that the fuller 13-minute clip of the incident showed âa totally different encounter to the one that Mr Falter has reportedâ.
Mr Babu said the officerâs âopenly Jewishâ comment was ânot acceptableâ. But he added: âWhat you see [Mr Falter] doing is attempting to go against the march, trying to push past the officers, and I think for 13 minutes the officers showed great restraint.
âThey offered to take him to a crossing point, they offered to help him and the group he was with the opportunity to cross at a more appropriate place. So the narrative thatâs been pushed for the past few days is not accurate.â
Mr Falter told ITVâs Good Morning Britain on Monday that his members often attend pro-Palestinian marches to âforce the police to make sure these things are safe for Jewish peopleâ â and he would turn up at the next one.
He said the protests were âso badly policed, that if you are a Jew on the sideline of this thing, they have to threaten you with arrest to get rid of youâ.
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Published21 hours ago
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