UK PM Sunak says police chief to be held ‘accountable’ for not banning pro-Palestinian rally

By AFP 8 November 2023, 4:53 pm

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Demonstrators hold up flags and placards as they stand on the base of Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in London, October 21, 2023. (David Cliff/AP)

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he will hold the Metropolitan Police commissioner “accountable” for his decision to allow a mass pro-Palestinian demonstration against the Israel-Hamas war to go ahead this Saturday.

Sunak says that a march taking place on Armistice Day would be “provocative and disrespectful,” but organizers have resisted his pleas and those from the Met Police to postpone the demonstration.

Met Police chief Mark Rowley has said the rally does not meet the threshold for requesting a government order to stop it going ahead, and a ban would be an “incredibly rare last resort.”