Sunak 'Appalled' At Met Over Incident At Palestine March

PM says force needs to ‘ensure Jewish communities feel safe'

- KATE DEVLIN

Rishi Sunak is "appalled" at the Metropolitan Police's handling of a pro-Palestinian march at which officers threatened a man with arrest and told him he was "openly Jewish". Downing Street said the prime minister expects the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark Rowley, to “account” for the events, which have led to calls for the Met boss to step down.

Sir Mark has been summoned to a meeting with the policing minister Chris Philp this week after the incident prompted anger within the government. But No 10 stopped short of echoing former home secretary Suella Braverman’s call for the commissioner to resign.

The row erupted after it emerged that the head of the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), Gideon Falter, was threatened with arrest near a pro-Palestine protest on 13 April, with one police officer describing him as “openly Jewish”. Another officer told Mr Falter he would be arrested if he did not leave the area because he was “causing a breach of peace with all these other people” and his presence was “antagonising”. The CAA has since called on Sir Mark to resign or be removed from his post.