Sarah Everard vigil: Home Secretary demands ‘full report’ from Met Police after clashes on Clapham Common

Organisers released this earlier this morning

We have been in discussions with the Metropolitan Police since day one of planning today’s vigil. Following yesterday’s hearing, we continued those discussions, and repeatedly tried to find a way forward for the event. At our meeting yesterday evening we made many suggestions, including staggering start times, splitting the event into time slots, and several other ideas to accommodate police concerns – as well as asking the police for their own suggestions.

We have made every effort to reach a positive outcome that applies proportionality, so that we could find an appropriate balance between our right as women to freedom of assembly and expression with the regulations set out in Covid regulations. 

We have been very disappointed that given the many opportunities to engage with organisers constructively, the Metropolitan Police have been unwilling to commit to anything. While we have had positive discussions with the Lambeth officers present, those from Scotland Yard would not engage with our suggestions to help ensure that a legal, Covid-secure vigil could take place.

It remains our view that with the appropriate mutually agreed measures in place, this evening’s vigil on Clapham Common would have been safe and in line with restrictions and safety regulations. However, in light of the lack of constructive engagement from the Metropolitan Police, we do not feel that we can in good faith allow tonight’s event to go ahead.

As the event has now been cancelled, we would strongly encourage people not to gather this evening on Clapham Common. Despite the court judgement, the feedback from police is that doing so may place yourself legally at risk. Furthermore, the Covid-secure event marshalling we would have provided will now not be taking place. We will be announcing the details of a virtual gathering later today and would encourage all those originally planning to join us on Clapham Common to take part.

We will also be publishing open advice later today from our lawyers which may be helpful to others who have organised vigils around the country and been approached with misleading interpretations of the ruling by their local Police force.

We appreciate the outpouring of support over the past 48 hours, and we are clear that women’s voices will not be silenced, now or ever.

We were told that pressing ahead could risk a £10,000 fine each for each woman organising. Even if we came to this amazing community for help in meeting those costs, we think that this would be a poor use of our and your money.

We do not want to see hundreds of thousands of pounds contributed to a system that consistently fails to keep women safe – either in public spaces or in the privacy of their homes. Women’s rights are too important.

So instead, we are setting up a fundraiser to raise the money we would have been liable for in fines to donate to supporting women’s causes around the country. We will also be donating the remaining funds of our legal costs crowdfunder to this charitable fund.

Our goal is £320,000 which is £10,000 for each location where vigils were expected to go ahead. And finally, but most importantly, we would like to end by expressing our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Sarah Everard.

Among the to-and-fro with the police, the court case and pundits, sometimes the news stops feeling personal. We want to remember that at the heart of this story is a young woman who isn’t going home tonight, and a family who have lost a daughter and sister.

We would like to echo the family’s call that if anyone has further information that could help the investigation, please call the Met’s Incident Room on 0208 785 8244, or by calling Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.