The head of the Met Police has come under fire today for describing a demonstration against alleged “two-tier policing” as an “extreme right” protest.
The Commissioner of the Met, Sir Mark Rowley, discussed recent protests in the capital at the London Policing Board.
He described the ongoing operations with the “Israel-Palestine-related protests, as well as Just Stop Oil, Youth Demand,” before adding that the Met had policed an “extreme right” protest in the past weekend.
Sir Mark was referring to a demonstration and film screening in Westminster, organised by right-wing activist Tommy Robinson.
Robinson - whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon - gathered the demonstration against what he described as “two-tier policing.”
Thousands attended, with two arrests made amid a peaceful demonstration and film screening in Parliament Square.
Sir Mark’s decision to describe the protest as “extreme right” was described as a move to “smear ordinary Brits” by former police officer Rory Geoghegan.
Mr Geoghegan said: “The police need to recognise that it’s not their job to judge, side with, or oppose protestors or their politics. They are there to enforce the law and maintain order.
“They shouldn’t have ever taken the knee for Black Lives Matter and they shouldn’t now be seeking to smear many ordinary Brits who have a love of their country and legitimate concerns about the future as members of the ‘extreme right’.”
Mr Geoghegan, who founded the Public Safety Foundation, added: “Whatever one’s view of Tommy Robinson - and in a free country we should be entitled to one - it is deeply concerning that the most senior police officer in the land would tar the many thousands of ordinary Brits in attendance as being members of an ‘extreme right’ protest.
“For any of the thousands in attendance or more than 800,000 who watched it live online, it was very clearly not an ‘extreme right’ protest.”
The Met Police did not clarify or add to Sir Mark’s comments when contacted by GB News.
Mr Geoghegan said that the “leadership of British policing need to recognise that their use of such language will only fuel the perception of two-tier policing and undermine the great British public’s trust and confidence in a vital public service.”
He continued: “Sir Mark’s use of such language also sets a terrible example for the men and women he professes to lead.
"His remarks this morning will have made the job of the brave men and women on the frontline that bit harder, as they have to work even harder to win back much-needed public support.”
