Suella Braverman warns pro-Palestine demos must not ‘desecrate’ Armistice Day – as marchers are urged to stay home
PRO-PALESTINE protesters must not “desecrate” Armistice Day services with their march, Suella Braverman warned last night.
The Home Secretary is waiting to see if the Met Police ask her to intervene to block the march before she can wade in formally.
But speaking exclusively to The Sun on Sunday on a trip in Greece, she warned the solemn act of remembering our fallen war heroes must not be sullied.
And she hit out at the “absolutely sickening” scenes of hate and anti-Semitism which have marred what she dubs “hate matches”.
She said: “Armistice Day is a day of remembrance. It’s a day of mourning. It’s a day of gratitude and humility.
“And it’s so intrinsic to our national psyche and the fabric of Britain’s history and British identity.
“It’s a day which deserves profound reverence by everyone in our country.
“So I think that to disturb it, to undermine it, desecrate it, I think is wholly unacceptable, just like the Prime Minister has said.”
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign has sparked national outrage by vowing to march through London on November 11 – the national day of remembrance.
Rishi Sunak branded the planned protest “provocative and disrespectful” and warned it could pose a risk to the Cenotaph – the nation’s war memorial in Whitehall.
He has given the Home Sec his backing to do “everything necessary to protect the sanctity” of Remembrance weekend.
It remains unclear if the Met will seek to block the march altogether, or just insist it is routed to avoid Westminster and parts of London marking Armistice Day.
Pro Palestine Protests have been staged in London every Saturday for the past few weeks.
But they have been marred by violence, anti-Semitism and sickening chants of “jihad jihad jihad”.
Opening up about her horror at witnessing this, Suella said: “We’ve seen on some weekends tens of thousands of people take to the streets, chanting jihad, calling for the erasure of Israel, flagrant anti-Semitism.
“Absolutely sickening scenes on the streets of Britain, where everybody should feel welcome and no one should feel scared or intimidated or harassed. And so I will consider what the Metropolitan Police put to me.”
She added: “I’m not going to undermine the process that’s in place. The Met will use their judgement.
“But, when you look at chants of jihad, when you look at the many arrests that have been made out of these protests, when you see that Jewish people have felt abused, they’ve been on the receiving end of threatening behaviour on the receiving end of abusive behaviour.
“Jewish children have not been able to go to school, and there’s been a real and profound sense of fear and insecurity amongst our Jewish community.
“I think that there are really serious issues about how these protests are done.”
Met Police Commissioner Mark Rowley has said laws need tightening to give his cops more powers to arrest people inciting hatred on the demos.
And last night Suella hinted she would back this, saying: “If there is a need to change the law…I won’t hesitate to act”.
She also tore into Labour MPs who have been on the frontline of the demos delivering speeches.
Andy McDonald was suspended by the Labour Party whip after a fiery speech he delivered at one of the demos.
Asked if these politicians are being “useful idiots”, she said: “I think some of these Labour MPs have a history I’m afraid of sympathising with atrocious groups.“