Suella Braverman has been branded “out of control” after accusing the police of “playing favourites” with protesters ahead of the controversial pro-Palestinian march taking place on Armistice Day.
The home secretary, who Rishi Sunak has been urged to sack by critics, suggested that “pro-Palestinian mobs” are “largely ignored, even when clearly breaking the law”.
The “inflammatory” remarks follow Braverman describing the protests as “hate marches”, and also claiming some people were homeless as a “lifestyle choice”, which commentators contend represent the MP staking out the ground for a Tory leadership bid.
Her intervention came after the PM failed to persuade the Metropolitan Police chief to stop Saturday’s protest.
Sir Mark Rowley had been summoned to Downing Street on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the issue after the prime minister repeatedly said it would be “disrespectful” for the protest to go ahead.
But Rowley has insisted the intelligence surrounding the potential for serious disorder this weekend does not meet the threshold to apply to prohibit the march.
Writing in The Times, Braverman said: “I do not believe that these marches are merely a cry for help for Gaza.
“They are an assertion of primacy by certain groups – particularly Islamists – of the kind we are more used to seeing in Northern Ireland. Also disturbingly reminiscent of Ulster are the reports that some of Saturday’s march group organisers have links to terrorist groups, including Hamas.”
Braverman claimed “there is a perception that senior police officers play favourites when it comes to protesters”.
She said: “Right-wing and nationalist protesters who engage in aggression are rightly met with a stern response yet pro-Palestinian mobs displaying almost identical behaviour are largely ignored, even when clearly breaking the law.
“I have spoken to serving and former police officers who have noted this double standard.
“Football fans are even more vocal about the tough way they are policed as compared to politically connected minority groups favoured by the left.
“It may be that senior officers are more concerned with how much flak they are likely to get than whether this perceived unfairness alienates the majority. The government has a duty to take a broader view.”
The home secretary faced instant condemnation.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Suella Braverman is out of control.”
She said Braverman’s article “is a highly irresponsible, dangerous attempt to undermine respect for police at a sensitive time, to rip up operational independence and to inflame community tensions”.
Cooper added: “No other home secretary of any party would ever do this.”
London mayor Sadiq Khan said Braverman’s words were “inaccurate, inflammatory and irresponsible”.
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Alistair Carmichael said: “Suella Braverman is running a Conservative party leadership campaign, not the Home Office.
“The home secretary’s desire to stoke divisions and ramp up tensions in this way is irresponsible and dangerous.”
More than 70,000 people are expected to attend the demonstration in central London on Saturday on Armistice Day, when veterans plan to gather at the Cenotaph to commemorate Britain’s war dead.