Sunak calls Armistice Day pro-Palestinian protests ‘disrespectful’

Rishi Sunak has described pro-Palestinian protests planned for London on Armistice Day as “provocative and disrespectful”.

The prime minister also claimed there was a “clear and present risk that the Cenotaph and other war memorials could be desecrated” on a day when thousands of marchers were due to take to the streets.

His intervention came after the security minister Tom Tugendhat said earlier that the planned demonstration by the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (PSC) on Saturday 11 November in central London was “a matter of great concern” to him and that he had written to police about it.

The march is taking place on Armistice Day, when events will include a two-minute silence commemorating Britain’s war dead on the 105th anniversary of the end of the first world war, although the PCS has said there are no plans to march near Whitehall or the Cenotaph on Remembrance weekend.

Sunak said on the social media platform X: “To plan protests on Armistice Day is provocative and disrespectful, and there is a clear and present risk that the Cenotaph and other war memorials could be desecrated, something that would be an affront to the British public and the values we stand for.”.

He added that he had asked the home secretary to support the police “in doing everything necessary” to protect the sanctity of Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday.

“The right to remember, in peace and dignity, those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for those freedoms must be protected.”

Tugendhat, who is a military veteran, told Times Radio on Friday: “It is a moment where we remember those we lost, and I think for the whole country the Cenotaph is sacred ground and the idea that on a day like Remembrance Day you would have a protest going past it, I don’t think that is acceptable.

“That is why I have written to the mayor of London, and to Westminster council, and to the Metropolitan police asking them to look very carefully at the powers that they have and to consider what options they have available, because personally I don’t think this is an appropriate moment for a protest.”

London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, accused Tugendhat of “posturing”, saying: “If this security minister knew his brief, he would know the only person in the country that can ban marches is the home secretary – his colleague in cabinet.”

Khan told the PA Media news agency it was “incredibly important” that demonstrators understood the importance of Remembrance events, adding that Scotland Yard was speaking to protest organisers to “make sure they stay away from the Cenotaph”.

He added: “I’d encourage the organisers to work with the police to stay away from the Cenotaph.”

Khan’s office was yet to have received any letter from Tugendhat by the time the mayor made his comments, but sources pointed to section 13.4 of the Public Order Act 1986, which stated that the Metropolitan police commissioner would require the consent of the home secretary to make an order prohibiting a procession in particular circumstances.

The Met has vowed to use all its powers to stop the disruption of commemorations and said officers would be deployed across the capital that weekend as part of a “significant policing and security operation”.

It said protest groups had not indicated plans to march on Remembrance Sunday, 12 November, but that a significant demonstration was expected on the Saturday.

The Met added: “We’re absolutely committed to ensuring the safety and security of anyone attending commemorative events.”

The organisers of the protest have pledged to avoid the Whitehall area where the Cenotaph war memorial – the focus of national remembrance events – is located.

Ben Jamal, the director of the PSC, said: “The attempts to frame the planned national demonstration on Saturday 11 November, part of a cycle of weekly marches calling for a ceasefire, as disrespectful to Remembrance Day commemorations is at best misinformed and at worse an incitement to public disorder.”

There were no plans to march anywhere near Whitehall or the Cenotaph on Remembrance weekend, he said, and the march would also not begin until some time after the two minutes’ silence at 11am.

“This is a march calling for a ceasefire in order to stop the current slaughter in Gaza. To highlight this democratic action taking place on Saturday 11 November, well away from Whitehall, as disrespectful is dangerous and disingenuous politicking that defames many hundreds of thousands of people who want the current violence to stop.”

The intervention by Tugendhat comes in the wake of calls by others – including Nigel Farage – for the march to be stopped.