Home Secretary James Cleverly suggested laws could be changed to give police powers to prevent protesters clambering over war memorials.
Pro-Palestinian protesters climbed on the Royal Artillery Memorial at Hyde Park Corner in central London after a demonstration outside the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday evening.
Mr Cleverly, who served in the Royal Artillery, told LBC Radio: “We’re going to look at this.
“We are absolutely determined to look at this. (Veterans minister) Johnny Mercer, a former gunner officer – the Royal Artillery was my regiment as well, that’s my regimental memorial.”
The Home Secretary added: “I’m not going to let my personal feelings cloud my judgment on this but it is clearly wrong, and the police have said that they recognise it is deeply disrespectful for people to climb on war memorials.
“We have made a commitment to review the legislation around public order policing.
“If the police – and I’m going to look at this in real detail – if the police need more powers to make sure that really deeply distasteful, provocative things like that do not happen for the public good, because of course this is about making sure it doesn’t stimulate violent action or any kind of violent responses, but if we need to take action specifically to give police more powers, we are looking at doing that.”
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
