• Pro-Palestinian protests cost more than £20 million and showed no signs of stopping
• Home office fear, leading to ‘pay to protest’ review
As I marched down from the BBC headquarters, past Downing Street, towards Westminster Square, it became apparent to me that I was once again in one of the largest demonstrations in UK history. Pro-Palestinian marches have time and time again proved to be some of the largest protests in UK history, and they do not show any signs of stopping. Every time a protest happens, police are called from different boroughs and regions of the UK to patrol and ensure that the protest does not become disorderly. In reality, there tends to be more disorder after a football game than there is at a pro-Palestinian protest, as the 2021 Euros final proved. All in all, there is no need for such a police presence, as it acts more as a source of intimidation for the anger and grief that protesters harness than a source of protection and confidence. Nonetheless, the peaceful pro-Palestinian protests have cost the police up to £20 million as of December 9, 2023. Since then, there have been several pro-Palestinian marches, so the overall price is likely to have increased significantly.
At every pro-Palestinian protest so far, thousands of police have been deployed both before and during the protest to ensure things run smoothly. Assistant chief constable to the British Transport Police (BTP) Sean O’ Callaghan had said when referring to the financial strains of the protests, “It’s not just the cost of overtime you have to consider; it’s the cost of putting officers up in hotels at four days’ notice and feeding them three meals a day.” In December, Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, wrote to the Home Secretary, James Cleverly, that “as well as impacting the policing of the city, the demand on our police officers is impacting their welfare … Many officers have worked every weekend since October 7 and sickness rates are rising, a trend which is likely to continue.” He also demanded up to £240 million in additional funding for the Met to help with the additional burden it faces having to police national events in London.
On top of this, Met assistant commissioner Matt Twist, who had appeared before MPs in December, said the pro-Palestinian protests had the ‘greatest period of sustained pressure on the Met since the Olympics in 2012′. He said a total of 5,500 rest days were axed, with 6,000 hours used to investigate alleged hate crimes. He claimed altogether 28,000 officers have been dedicated to these events, which included 1,600 borrowed from other forces. This emphasises that the protests have not just had an effect on a miniature local level but rather on a national level, including officers from all around the country.
Husam Zomlot, Palestinian ambassador to the UK, attended the pro-Palestinian protest last Saturday.
The shocking Home Office report calling for pay to protest
It may seem ludicrous to think that in this century, in a western country that claims to be the beacon of freedom and acts like the knight of shining armour when enforcing its ideologies on others, that the idea of a free and open protest could become something of the past. Yet Lord Walney from the House of Lords was asked to investigate political violence and disruption and submitted his report to the home office a couple of months ago, before Christmas. In it, he said, ‘When groups run so many mass protests, the authorities should consider whether organisers should be asked to contribute to policing costs’. This is a grotesque justification to bar the freedoms of a protest that is to aid in the stopping of a mass genocide. According to recent polling, 7 in 10 people want an immediate permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. A protest is only a reflection of the dire anger and frustration people feel. If the Home Office decides to charge organisations that organise the act to protest, it’s likely it will trigger mass debate and speculation on what will happen next. From organised protests suffering enforced limitations in number to a ban on protests altogether, the trajectory of repression will only transition into oppression.
It must be noted that the outrage over a policy of ‘pay to protest’ will only be met with extreme harsh criticism nationwide, and seeing as the upcoming general election is this year, it will not be wise for the Conservative government to deliver such a thing. As recent polling has suggested on British opinion on a permanent ceasefire, it shows that people from different political parties have either moved or are moving closer to calling for one. It would not sit well in the polls for the Tory government to deliver on this atrocious review by the Home Office, as opposition leaders (probably not Labour, who is also directly complicit in genocide) will also exploit this Tory loophole against freedom of expression.
Protests are one of the many organs that are pressuring the government
There have never been as many large marches and demonstrations held against the government in this century as there have been between now and October 7. Never before has an assistant commissioner appeared in front of MPs to discuss the issue of too many protests until now. Never before has the mayor of London demanded £240 million for the met police out of too many peaceful protests in London until now. The pressure for Rishi Sunak to call for a permanent ceasefire does not only come from the international community but from within his domestic community too. With general elections coming up and the majority of Brits wanting a ceasefire, with the nation’s largest protests taking place to support one and economic and social pressures to do so as a result, it may only be a matter of time before prime minister Rishi Sunak bends a knee to try and limit the damage on election day. History will remember the Palestinian protests, and it will demonstrate to historians the legacy of the UK and the western world in their dictatorship like foreign policy.
