Rishi Sunak vows to hold Met Chief Mark Rowley ‘accountable’ if violence erupts at Armistice Day Palestine march

RISHI Sunak today vowed to hold Met chief Sir Mark Rowley “accountable” if any violence erupts at Saturday’s pro-Palestine march.

The PM slammed plans for 700,000 activists to march in Central London as “disrespectful”.

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Rishi Sunak today vowed to hold Met chief Sir Mark Rowley “accountable” if violence breaks out at Saturday’s pro-Palestine marchCredit: Getty

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Pro Palestine protesters at the Cenotaph last month.Credit: Rex

He will meet with Sir Mark this afternoon to discuss how officers intend to prevent clashes breaking out on Armistice Day.

Ministers have implored organisers of the Gaza march to delay the protest to a less sensitive date.

But bosses at the Palestine Solidarity Campaign have refused and Sir Mark said yesterday “the threshold to call off the rally hadn’t been reached”.

The Home Office can only ban a march if the Met advises there is a serious risk of violence.

So far chiefs have greenlighted it to go ahead – but Sir Mark did call on organisers to “urgently reconsider”.

The PM said: “This is a decision that the Metropolitan Police Commissioner has made.

“He has said that he can ensure that we safeguard remembrance for the country this weekend as well as keep the public safe.

“Now, my job is to hold him accountable for that.

“We’ve asked the police for information on how they will ensure that this happens. I’ll be meeting the Metropolitan Police Commissioner later today to discuss this.

“More broadly, my view is that these marches are disrespectful and that’s what I’ll be discussing with the Police Commissioner later today.”

In a statement on Tuesday, Sir Mark said: “The laws created by Parliament are clear.

“There is no absolute power to ban protest, therefore there will be a protest this weekend.”

Sir Mark added that moving to ban a march is “incredibly rare” and must be reserved for cases where there’s a “real threat” of violent disorder.

Sir Mark insisted Palestine rally organisers have shown “complete willingness to stay away from the Cenotaph and Whitehall and have no intention of disrupting the nation’s remembrance events”.

He added: “Should this change, we’ve been clear we will use powers and conditions available to us to protect locations and events of national importance at all costs.”

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Sir Mark Rowley, Commissioner of the Met, has been told by the PM he will be held accountable if there is trouble at The Cenotaph.Credit: Alamy