Demonstration of corruption?
What exactly happened at the pro-Palestine march on Saturday (January 18) and was it actually a demonstration of corruption by the Metropolitan Police?
Let’s try to unravel this.
Firstly, it seems clear that the cops entered into shenanigans over the route of the planned march, long before it was set to take place.
This Site reported, back on January 10, that the Metropolitan Police was trying to change previously-agreed conditions under which the march was to take place and had been accused of trying to misuse public order powers to shield the BBC from public scrutiny.
The plan – agreed with the Met in November – had been for the march to begin near the BBC’s Portland Place headquarters and move to Whitehall.
But in January, the Met decided to change it, claiming that large numbers of participants would disrupt worship at a synagogue – that is relatively nearby but not on the agreed route.
In a press release on January 13, organisers rejected the Met’s new conditions: “We will assemble in Whitehall, which will allow us to form up in massive numbers, and we will march in an orderly fashion towards the BBC. We call on the Metropolitan Police to drop these repressive restrictions and accept our right to demonstrate at the BBC.
“Recent investigations have exposed widespread anger amongst BBC staff at the skewed nature of its coverage, and its consistent failure to adhere to its own editorial standards, including by dehumanising Palestinians and obscuring the truth of Israel’s crimes against them. It is entirely unacceptable for the Metropolitan Police to abuse public order powers to shield the BBC from democratic scrutiny.
“Contrary to the excuse offered by the police – that they have taken this action to prevent potential disruption to a nearby synagogue – the closest synagogue to the BBC is not even on the route of the march. As the Metropolitan Police have acknowledged, there has never been any threat to a synagogue attached to any of our marches. In fact, every march has been joined by thousands of Jewish people – many in an organised Jewish bloc.”
But it seems these arguments fell on deaf ears. The police refused to budge and in the end a static rally was held in Whitehall.
That’s not where the alleged corruption ends, though – it was only the beginning.
It seems that a delegation from the rally, including MPs Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, arranged to walk from Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, in order to lay wreaths in memory of innocent Palestinians who have died in Gaza since Israel began its genocide there in October 2023. The police reported this differently:
The group that forced its way through the police line is now held at the north west corner of Trafalgar Square.
Anyone in that group should now disperse and leave the area. Anyone remaining in breach of the conditions, or inciting further breaches, will be arrested. pic.twitter.com/kzPf7Lu786
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) January 18, 2025
Mr Corbyn says this account is false:
This is not an accurate description of events at all.
I was part of a delegation of speakers, who wished to peacefully carry and lay flowers in memory of children in Gaza who had been killed.
This was facilitated by the police. We did not force our way through.
When we… https://t.co/6CQe8w9Nmo
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) January 18, 2025
So does Mr McDonnell:
I spoke at demo & was part of a procession of speakers aiming to go to BBC to lay flowers commemorating the death of Palestinian children. We did not force our way thru, the police allowed us to go thru & when stopped in Trafalgar Square we laid our flowers down & dispersed.1/3 https://t.co/iw5XTn7TWP
— John McDonnell (@johnmcdonnellMP) January 18, 2025
Regrettably, soon after I had explained to the police officer our intentions & we awaited the arrangements to lay the flowers, bizarrely the police violently arrested one of the march stewards, who was organising the presentation of the flowers & the dispersal of the crowd. 3/3
— John McDonnell (@johnmcdonnellMP) January 18, 2025
And – perhaps damningly for the police – video footage appears to show the wreath-layers being waved through by police officers who made way for them to pass:
The police has mislead the public about events in Whitehall and Trafalgar Square, claiming the Palestine coalition attempted to push through police lines. Our footage shows the truth. WATCH ⬇️(1/6) pic.twitter.com/c9QlijL788
— Palestine Solidarity Campaign (@PSCupdates) January 19, 2025
Other footage is available which purports to show the delegation forcing its way through. Which do you believe?
Fellow politics site Skwawkbox believes the protesters – having found additional footage that shows the demonstrators being waved through by police.
But the article adds that officers stopped members of the Jewish bloc from passing through, suggesting that this may have been in order to falsely support claims that Jews do not support pro-Palestine marches.
And it casts ridicule on Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s astonishingly biased X post claiming that everybody, including Jewish people, should be allowed to worship in peace. Nobody has disputed that – but the claim only gave protesters an opportunity to point out that Muslims in Gaza have been systematically denied that opportunity by Israeli troops who have destroyed every Mosque in the territory. Ms Cooper has had nothing to say about that.
The decision to allow wreath-layers into Trafalgar Square was suddenly reversed – for reasons unknown to protesters – and police moved to ‘kettle’ the delegation into a corner of the space. There, one of the demonstration’s organisers – Chris Nineham – was arrested along with others. Mr Corbyn and Mr McDonnell agreed to report to police later, on their own recognizance.
The BBC reported:
MPs Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell have agreed to be interviewed under caution by police following a pro-Palestinian rally in central London on Saturday, the BBC understands.
The former Labour leader, 75, and former shadow chancellor, 73, voluntarily attended a police station in the capital as the Metropolitan Police investigates what it says was a coordinated effort by organisers to breach conditions imposed on the event.
The pair were interviewed on Sunday afternoon.
Nine other people have been charged with public order offences following arrests at the protest organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).
The Met said 24 people had also been bailed and 48 remain in custody.
In a statement, the force said thenine people charged – who include Chris Nineham, a chief steward on the march, and Corbyn’s brother Piers Corbyn -are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in the coming days.
March organisers retorted:
Chris Nineham, the chief steward of the national Palestine marches, was violently arrested on today’s protest.Police targeted Chris as a delegation of MPs and celebrities walked towards the BBC.Some ten police officers came to the front of march on the pretext of discussing the march with Chris.They then jumped on Chris forcing him on the ground, while protestors attempted to defend him.
The police, at the urging of the pro-Israeli groups including the CST, are out to make an example of Palestinian protesters.
Stop the War said: “This is an outrageous assault on the Palestine movement. It is an unacceptable assault on civil liberties. Chris Nineham must be released without charge. We refuse to be intimidated.”
Genocide supporting Starmer has the police doing his dirty work!