https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/ukne...licing-costs-official-review-says/ar-AA1myv6X
Since the Oct 7 attack by Hamas and Israel’s military response in Gaza, London and many other UK cities have been convulsed by pro-Palestine marches.
The total cost of policing the protests is estimated to have reached more than £20 million.
Appearing before MPs in December, Matt Twist, the assistant commissioner for the Metropolitan Police, said that between Oct 7 and Dec 8 his force had spent £17 million on the protests.
Describing it as the “greatest period of sustained pressure on the Met since the Olympics in 2012”, he said the Met had used 28,000 officer shifts to deal with the protests along with 1,600 shifts provided by other police forces.
He also revealed that 5,500 rest days had been cancelled and that over 6,000 hours of officer time was being used to investigate 800 open hate crimes.
To address the problem, Lord Walney has recommended that the Government should consider the viability of recouping some of the policing costs from groups organising persistent protests which are disruptive and involve law-breaking.
Lord Walney, a former Labour MP, was asked in 2021 by Boris Johnson to lead a review into political violence and disruption, submitting his report to the Home Office just before Christmas.
An extract seen by The Telegraph flagged how “the number of marches being organised around the Israel-Hamas conflict, the scale of these marches, and the behaviour of some protesters means that a great amount of police resource is being directed to these protests”.
It said that “when groups run so many mass protests, the authorities should consider whether organisers should be asked to contribute to policing costs”.
It added: “With the repeated incitements and disorder seen at the anti-Israel marches, such as when firecrackers have been thrown at police, I believe that there is an argument that the organisers should cover some of these policing costs.”
The report said that the policing of football matches provides “something of a precedent” for the idea, with forces entitled to recover costs from clubs which have requested special policing services or where operations take place in and around stadiums.
According to the National Police Chiefs’ Council, in 2019 the police claimed back £5.5 million out of a total annual cost of £48 million for policing football matches in England and Wales.
Lord Walney’s report added: “The Government should consider the viability of requiring protest organisers to contribute to policing costs when groups are holding a significant number of large protests causing disruption or involving law breaking.”
The report acknowledged that “it is important that this policy not be used to stifle free expression, particularly by smaller groups, or the right to assembly”, criticising an “error” made by the Met in 2015 when it told an art exhibition featuring a work which mocked Islamic State that it would have to pay £36,000 towards policing costs.
Commenting on his latest charging recommendation, he said: “Aside from the sense of fear that the pro-Palestine marches are causing for many Jewish people in Britain, we cannot ignore the considerable strain this drumbeat is placing on already overstretched police forces.
“The right to protest is vital but there are many ways people can make their views known that do not involve hundreds of officers being deployed. If groups insist on frequent large-scale events that require large police teams to control crowds and deal with lawbreaking, it will inevitably damage their ability to fight crime in other areas.
“When police resources are being pushed to breaking point, it seems reasonable to consider requiring organisers to offset policing costs in the way that has long been commonplace for football matches, for example.”
An aide to James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, said: “We look forward to reading the review and looking into the recommendations.
“Of course, as with any such recommendation to government, they’d need to be studied for efficacy, feasibility and consequence before being taken up.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “The Independent Review into Political Violence and Disruption, led by Lord Walney, aims to increase the UK Government’s understanding of the increase in activity amongst the far-Right, far-Left, and other political groups, and the points at which their activities can cross into criminality and disruption. We will respond to the report’s recommendations in due course.”
Since the Oct 7 attack by Hamas and Israel’s military response in Gaza, London and many other UK cities have been convulsed by pro-Palestine marches.
The total cost of policing the protests is estimated to have reached more than £20 million.
Appearing before MPs in December, Matt Twist, the assistant commissioner for the Metropolitan Police, said that between Oct 7 and Dec 8 his force had spent £17 million on the protests.
Describing it as the “greatest period of sustained pressure on the Met since the Olympics in 2012”, he said the Met had used 28,000 officer shifts to deal with the protests along with 1,600 shifts provided by other police forces.
He also revealed that 5,500 rest days had been cancelled and that over 6,000 hours of officer time was being used to investigate 800 open hate crimes.
To address the problem, Lord Walney has recommended that the Government should consider the viability of recouping some of the policing costs from groups organising persistent protests which are disruptive and involve law-breaking.
Lord Walney, a former Labour MP, was asked in 2021 by Boris Johnson to lead a review into political violence and disruption, submitting his report to the Home Office just before Christmas.
An extract seen by The Telegraph flagged how “the number of marches being organised around the Israel-Hamas conflict, the scale of these marches, and the behaviour of some protesters means that a great amount of police resource is being directed to these protests”.
It said that “when groups run so many mass protests, the authorities should consider whether organisers should be asked to contribute to policing costs”.
It added: “With the repeated incitements and disorder seen at the anti-Israel marches, such as when firecrackers have been thrown at police, I believe that there is an argument that the organisers should cover some of these policing costs.”
The report said that the policing of football matches provides “something of a precedent” for the idea, with forces entitled to recover costs from clubs which have requested special policing services or where operations take place in and around stadiums.
According to the National Police Chiefs’ Council, in 2019 the police claimed back £5.5 million out of a total annual cost of £48 million for policing football matches in England and Wales.
Lord Walney’s report added: “The Government should consider the viability of requiring protest organisers to contribute to policing costs when groups are holding a significant number of large protests causing disruption or involving law breaking.”
The report acknowledged that “it is important that this policy not be used to stifle free expression, particularly by smaller groups, or the right to assembly”, criticising an “error” made by the Met in 2015 when it told an art exhibition featuring a work which mocked Islamic State that it would have to pay £36,000 towards policing costs.
Emergency
Lord Walney has previously argued that the police should be able to ban demonstrations because of their impact on vulnerable communities, saying in November that Jews were facing an “emergency” because of an “explosion” in anti-Semitic incidents linked to the marches.Commenting on his latest charging recommendation, he said: “Aside from the sense of fear that the pro-Palestine marches are causing for many Jewish people in Britain, we cannot ignore the considerable strain this drumbeat is placing on already overstretched police forces.
“The right to protest is vital but there are many ways people can make their views known that do not involve hundreds of officers being deployed. If groups insist on frequent large-scale events that require large police teams to control crowds and deal with lawbreaking, it will inevitably damage their ability to fight crime in other areas.
“When police resources are being pushed to breaking point, it seems reasonable to consider requiring organisers to offset policing costs in the way that has long been commonplace for football matches, for example.”
An aide to James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, said: “We look forward to reading the review and looking into the recommendations.
“Of course, as with any such recommendation to government, they’d need to be studied for efficacy, feasibility and consequence before being taken up.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “The Independent Review into Political Violence and Disruption, led by Lord Walney, aims to increase the UK Government’s understanding of the increase in activity amongst the far-Right, far-Left, and other political groups, and the points at which their activities can cross into criminality and disruption. We will respond to the report’s recommendations in due course.”
