Met police chief defends lack of arrests after shouts of 'jihad' at protest

The Metropolitan police commissioner has hit back at criticism of his force's decision not to make arrests after shouts of "jihad" at an anti-Israel protest, saying the police cannot enforce "taste and decency" and laws should be changed if politicians want tougher action taken.

- Vikram Dodd, Peter Walker

Mark Rowley was speaking after meeting the home secretary yesterday, with Suella Braverman asking why police did not arrest those responsible for chanting "jihad" at a rally of the Islamist Hizb ut-Tahrir group on Saturday.

The commissioner said the law may need to change. Downing Street said there were no plans to do so, while the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, said any gaps should be plugged.

After the meeting, Rowley said he believed the home secretary was thinking hard about whether laws may need changing.

Rowley said: "I was explaining how we are absolutely ruthless in tackling anybody who puts their foot over the legal line. We are accountable to the law-we can't enforce taste or decency but we can enforce the law." He said the Met had made 34 arrests so far and was searching for individuals in another 22 cases.

Rowley left his role as head of counter-terrorism at the Met in 2018 and co-wrote a report on extremism in 2021. It described a "gaping chasm" in laws allowing "extremists to operate with impunity". The report was for the commission on countering extremism, which advises ministers, and made recommendations to the government, which has so far not taken any action.