Sadiq Khan has criticised Suella Braverman for describing pro-Palestinian protests as “hate marches”, saying her “posturing” may divide communities.
Speaking to Beth Rigby for Sky News’ Politics Hub programme, the Mayor of London stated that “by and large”, demonstrations within the capital have seen folks performing in a “peaceful, lawful and safe way”.
Instead, he urged the house secretary to take heed to calls from the top of the Metropolitan Police Sir Mark Rowley for the federal government to “step in and provide clarity” over extremism laws to sort out the “small minority [who] may have acted outside the law”.
Politics dwell: Boris Johnson was ‘obsessive about older folks accepting their destiny’, COVID inquiry hears
Hundreds of hundreds of individuals have taken to the streets over the previous three weeks to indicate their help for Palestinians amid the continuing Israel-Hamas battle.
While lots of the protesters have been calling for an finish to the airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, different extra troubling incidents have surfaced, together with protesters chanting “jihad” or utilizing antisemitic tropes – with 5 folks charged after the newest demonstration on Saturday.
The Met Police has confronted criticism for not making extra arrests, however the commissioner advised Sky News there was a “gap” within the legislation in relation to extremism, and there was “scope to be much sharper” in laws to sort out it.
Speaking after an emergency COBRA assembly chaired by Rishi Sunak on Monday, Ms Braverman gave her evaluation of the protests to date, telling broadcasters: “To my mind there is only one way to describe those marches: they are hate marches.”
But Mr Khan disagreed along with her language, telling Rigby that the house secretary “should be bringing people together… rather than seeking to divide people by posturing”.
He stated: “A cornerstone of our democracy is the ability to protest, to lobby MP politicians, to email them, to go to their surgeries, to get involved in civic society.
“By and huge, during the last three weeks, the a whole bunch of hundreds of people that’ve been protesting have been doing it in a peaceable, lawful and secure means.
“I accept a small minority may have acted outside the law. That may be a grey area. And what the home secretary should be doing is listening to her commissioner, who has said quite clearly the government should be stepping in and providing clarity in relation to laws around extremism.”
The mayor spoke concerning the 2000s when tensions within the Middle East have been heightened over the Iraq warfare.
He stated one of many issues the Labour authorities he was then in “encouraged, particularly Muslims to do in this country, was to get involved in mainstream politics… and what she’s doing, either intentionally or unintentionally, is driving citizens away from mainstream democracy, which is protest”.
Mr Khan added: “We’ve seen an increase in Islamophobia and antisemitism. [Ms Braverman] should be bringing people together, explaining – look, you can have strong views, be pro-Palestinian, but you must not be antisemitic.
You can have strong views supporting the government of Israel, but you can also have sympathy and empathy for those in Gaza and want to bring people together. [She could] unite our society rather than seeking to divide people by posturing.”
Read extra politics information:
Key WhatsApps from the COVID inquiry
Rail ticket workplace closures cancelled after U-turn
Johnson thought COVID was ‘nature’s means of coping with outdated folks’
Mr Khan stated he was “speaking on a daily basis” with the Met and had acquired briefings from the commissioner over the latest protests.
“The police have got to police without fear or favour, whatever their views are… they’ve got to enforce the law,” he stated.
“And if there’s confusion in the law, what the home secretary can be doing, which would be helpful, is provide clarity. Rather than doing that, she’s using [this] language.”
But defending her cupboard colleague over her preliminary remarks, Environment Secretary Therese Coffey stated Ms Braverman had “reflected the repulsion that many people heard when they heard these chants of basically demanding an end to Israel”
She did inform broadcasters, nevertheless, that she was “very conscious that’s a minority of people” on the marches.
Source: information.sky.com”