A British government minister said “I will not stand idly by” and that he wants to see those disrespecting war memorials “in handcuffs” after footage emerged of police failing to intervene as Palestine protesters scaled a major London war memorial.
Protesters climbed one of central London’s key war memorials on Wednesday night, straddling the stones, shouting, and waving flags while police appeared to look on, sparking criticism that officers failed to act when they could have. Responding to the footage gaining traction and critique mounting, the Metropolitan Police issued a statement where they apologised, but ultimately claimed they were powerless.
Government minister Johnny Mercer has made clear his disagreement with the claim, stating in response “the Met has a lot of power they can use, and should be using… let’s see these thuds dishonouring our war dead in handcuffs”.
We agree it is deeply disrespectful to climb on a war memorial.
In the absence of a law against it officers cannot automatically arrest, but they can intervene & make it clear the behaviour isn’t acceptable.
That’s what they are seen doing here in this video.
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) November 15,
