'Unpatriotic yobbery!' Remembrance Day 'thuggery' slammed as MP declares: 'Braverman was right'
Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith has said today's clash between protesters and police - during Remembrance weekend - demonstrates that Suella Braverman was "right" to question the decision-making of the Met Police last week.
Police were forced to use batons to hit back protesters as they breached police lines, while hundreds of screaming Britons were heard chanting "England 'til I die".
This comes just one day after Suella Braverman penned an Op-Ed in the Times, accusing the Met Police for "playing favourites" when it comes to the policing of protests.
She said the pro-Palestinian marches are "problematic" because of "violence around the fringes", in addition to "highly offensive" chants, posters and stickers.
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Some have blamed Braverman for today's violence, claiming the remarks have stoked up tensions in Britain.
Baroness Warsi, a Conservative peer, said the Home Secretary "had lit the touch paper and ignited community tensions" with her remarks.
She told the Evening Standard: "Couching the planned demonstration as 'armistice day vs a hate march,' she has pitched community against community and set a noisy call for peace against a quiet moment of reflection to mark the war."
But Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith dismissed those blaming Braverman for the disruption as "daft", adding: "These protests have been going on for weeks and this clash with Armistice Day had been scheduled for a while.
"If anything it shows she was right."
Fellow Tory MP Jonathan Gullis hit out at the protesters, dismissing them as "deeply unpatriotic".
Writing on X, he said: "These acts of thuggery are completely unacceptable and deeply unpatriotic.
"All this mindless yobbery does is undermine the overwhelming law abiding majority of British people who want this weekend to remain sacred and solemn, so as a nation we can remember our glorious dead."
Protesters have been banned from the area around the Cenotaph in Whitehall as officers will form a “ring of steel” around the Remembrance monument.
Police chiefs say that anyone “believed to be part of, or associated with, the pro-Palestinian demonstration trying to assemble in this area can be arrested”.
Earlier this week, Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley vowed to do “everything in our power to ensure they pass without disruption”.
He said: “The events taking place this weekend are of great significance and importance to our nation.
“I completely recognise the significant public and political concern about the impact of ongoing protest and demonstrations on this moment of national reflection.
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Braverman penned an Op-Ed in the Times, accusing the Met Police for "playing favourites" when it comes to the policing of protests
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“Therefore I am determined we will do everything in our power to ensure they pass without disruption.
“The laws created by Parliament are clear. There is no absolute power to ban protest, therefore there will be a protest this weekend.”