The Metropolitan Police warned beforehand “Later today, an event to mark St George’s Day is expected to take place on Richmond Terrace, off Whitehall. We believe those planning to attend include far right groups and groups linked to football clubs travelling from elsewhere in the UK”. So it proved.
Next came “The event is not due to start for an hour and regrettably officers are already dealing with disorder.There is an area allocated for this event in Richmond Terrace. This group went past it and continued up Whitehall. When officers formed a cordon and asked the group to turn round, they reacted by violently forcing their way through. Mounted officers intervened with horses to restore the cordon”. The ale was already talking. Again.
Addressing the gathering later was Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson, wearing a loud suit in a built-up area, and telling anyone who would listen that he is going to sue the Met. Like he sued Cambridgeshire Police, perhaps? He lost that one. But being of less than perfect courage, Lennon did not hang around and made a swift exit.
Not making a swift exit was already has-been political campaigner and former not very good actor Laurence Fox. Dear dear Larry, wearing the Nike trainers he would see banned (why? Who knows. And, indeed, who cares?), churned out false equivalence after false equivalence about other protests.
To no surprise at all, that actor was Turning Point UK, demonstrating their sense of victimhood by whining “So the Met Police once again provoked peaceful protestors by unreasonably kettling them. They then charged them with police horses and are now crying victim? Shame. They would never do this with a pro-Palestine protest. Two-tiered thugs”. Followed by ignorance.
“Yesterday despite persecution from Khan's thugs in the Metropolitan Police, patriots from across the country united to celebrate St George's Day”. The Mayor of London does not have operational control of the Met - that power is held by the Home Secretary. But that office is held by a Tory, and so TPUK are not going to direct their ire at him. Or come clean with their followers.
The Met gave us the real story: “Four arrests have been made outside a pub in Whitehall. One on suspicion of assault and three on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker. Officers were quickly on [the] scene and order has been restored. The southbound carriageway was briefly blocked but has now been reopened”. The real double standards were then exposed.
Louise Raw, who you can tell as she’s a doctor, mused “IMAGINE IF THIS WAS A PRO PALESTINE RALLY! Imagine the political OUTRAGE. Rachel Riley and co COMBUSTING. [Suella Braverman] doing her nut. Demands to ban future rallies from the people concerned. Yet ‘for some reason’, it’s not happening”. A few thugs kicked off and the cops kept order.
What you will not find on Palestinian solidarity marches. That is all.
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