Grant Shapps claims the government is ‘worried’ by protests - ‘The police need to be all over these things!’

Grant Shapps claims the government is ‘worried’ by protests - ‘The police need to be all over these things!’
Gabrielle Wilde

By Gabrielle Wilde


Published: 19/05/2024

- 15:28

There were seven arrests as thousands of people marched in London on Saturday

Police should be “all over” pro-Palestinian marches, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said.

There were seven arrests as thousands of people marched in London on Saturday, including a man seen carrying a coffin with offensive language written on it.

Speaking to GB News about the protests Shapps said: It worries me, It worries the Government a lot. I was pleased to see that ten or so arrests yesterday were made.

“We have said in the past, I think the police need to be very much all over these things. And we see the impact on people. It makes people feel very uncomfortable.

“When these marches sometimes spill over from the legitimate right to protest and make a point, that is not an issue, when they spill over into anti-semitism, when they spill over into hate speech, racism, that is where there is a problem and we absolutely back 100% police taking the necessary action.

“I see now that they have charged hundreds and hundreds of people over the last few months and there were a significant number of arrests yesterday, which I think was the right way to deal with these things.”

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