Rishi Sunak today ruled out a rethink of new protest laws after the Metropolitan Police apologised over the arrests of six anti-monarchists ahead of the Coronation.
The Prime Minister defended fresh powers the Government has handed officers under the Public Order Act to deal with demonstrations.
Mr Sunak insisted it was ‘right’ that ministers had given police greater abilities to ‘tackle serious disruption’, despite some Tory calls for a review of the legislation.
The PM was quizzed about the new police powers following a furious row over the Met Police’s handling of Saturday’s historic Coronation ceremony.
Scotland Yard, which has been hit by a string of scandals in recent years, was heavily criticised for detaining demonstrators in the hours before the Westminster Abbey event.
But Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, while describing the arrests as ‘unfortunate’, today stressed his support for the arresting officers’ actions.
Rishi Sunak defended fresh powers the Government has handed officers under the Public Order Act in order to deal with demonstrations
The PM was quizzed about the new police powers following a furious row over Scotland Yard’s handling of Saturday’s historic Coronation ceremony
The Met Police said their officers had stopped a group of people unloading items from a vehicle close to Trafalgar Square on Saturday morning
Graham Smith, the chief executive of the Republic campaign group, revealed a chief inspector and two other officers had personally apologised to him following the incident
Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley dscribed the arrests as ‘unfortunate’ but stressed his support for his officers’ actions
Tory ex-Cabinet minister David Davis has reiterated his criticism of the Public Order Act after Saturday’s arrests
It came after Scotland Yard last night expressed ‘regret’ that a group of six people were arrested under the expanded police powers at 6.40am on Saturday.
All six have now had their bail cancelled and no further action will be taken, the Met Police said.
Graham Smith, the chief executive of the Republic campaign group, revealed a chief inspector and two other officers had personally apologised to him following the incident.
The Met Police admitted one of the group had been liaising with Scotland Yard about a protest ahead of the Coronation, but suggested this information was not known by the arresting officers.
Tory ex-Cabinet minister David Davis has reiterated his criticism of the Public Order Act in the wake of Saturday’s arrests and claimed the new police powers are ‘too broadly defined’.
But, on a visit to a doctors’ surgery in Southampton this morning, Mr Sunak declined to commit to a review of the legislation.
‘First thing to say about the weekend is an enormous thank you to everyone involved in making sure that everything went off so smoothly and was so successful,’ the PM said.
‘Lots of people worked incredibly hard, including the police, to make sure that that happened and I’m very grateful to all of them.
‘With regard to protest, of course people have the right to protest freely but peacefully, but it is also right that people have the ability to go about their day-to-day lives without facing serious disruption.
‘What the Government has done is give the police the powers that they need to tackle instances of serious disruption to people’s lives.
‘I think that is the right thing to do and the police will make decisions on when they use those powers.’
Asked if nothing about the Republic arrests made him feel uncomfortable, the PM told broadcasters police are ‘rightly, operationally independent of Government’.
‘They make the decisions on the ground in the way they see fit,’ Mr Sunak added.
‘It wouldn’t be right for me to interfere with their operational decisions but it is right for the Government to give the police the powers to tackle serious disruption.’
Downing Street said it ‘wouldn’t be right to judge a whole piece of legislation based on one example’.
‘We do still stand by these powers which we think are in line with what the public want and what we believe are appropriate,’ the PM’s official spokesman said.
‘I think the public has been alarmed by the chaos caused by highly disruptive protesters over the last few years and the legislation was brought in to balance the fundamental rights of protesters with the rights of others to go about their business without fear of serious disruption to their daily lives.’
Mr Smith has condemned Saturday’s ‘disgraceful episode’ and revealed he is considering taking legal action against the Met Police.
‘I also expect a full inquiry into why they repeatedly lied to us and who authorised the arrests,’ he said last night.
In an article for the Evening Standard newspaper, Sir Mark said Scotland Yard was ‘proud’ to have ensured the ‘safety and security’ of the Coronation.
He said Saturday’s event came amid ‘the most challenging, fast-moving and complex policing picture we have ever encountered for a national celebration’.
‘Protest is an important right in any democracy, but it is limited and has to be carefully balanced alongside consideration for the rights of others so they too can go about their normal business – in this case participating in a once-in-a-generation event,’ Sir Mark added.
‘While it is unfortunate that the six people affected by this were unable to join the hundreds of peaceful protestors, I support the officers’ actions in this unique, fast-moving operational context.’.
In a statement issued last night, Scotland Yard said their officers had stopped a group of people unloading items from a vehicle close to Trafalgar Square on Saturday morning.
They claimed a search of the vehicle had uncovered items which the officers ‘had reasonable grounds to believe could be used as lock on devices’.
‘Taking into account the information they had, and the overall concern regarding security, six people were arrested on suspicion of going equipped for locking on, contrary to Section 2 Public Order Act 2023,’ the statement added.
‘One man was also arrested for possession of a knife/pointed article.
‘It was not clear at the time that at least one of the group stopped had been engaging with police Protest Liaison Team officers ahead of the event.
‘The Protest Liaison Team were not the arresting officers nor were they present in St Martin’s Lane at the time of the arrest.
‘The investigation team have now fully examined the items seized and reviewed the full circumstances of the arrest.
‘Those arrested stated the items would be used to secure their placards, and the investigation has been unable to prove intent to use them to lock on and disrupt the event.
‘This evening all six have had their bail cancelled and no further action will be taken.
‘We regret that those six people arrested were unable to join the wider group of protesters in Trafalgar Square and elsewhere on the procession route.’
Under the Public Order Act 2023, which passed into law just days before the Coronation, a new offence of ‘locking on’ during demonstrations was created.
It followed recent disruptive protests by environmental groups such as Just Stop Oil, whose members have been known to chain or tie themselves to things as a means of demonstrating.
