“We urge the Metropolitan police to avoid causing disruption and accept that the march should go ahead at the normal.”
The coalition organising demonstrations for Palestine has published a statement in response to the Metropolitan Police’s threats of restrictions against the demonstration, with the statement supported by left MPs and leading trade unionists.
We are concerned that the Metropolitan Police are threatening to place restriction orders on next Saturday’s Palestine protest, delaying the start time by one and a half hours to 2.30pm and refusing us Pall Mall as an assembly point.
No explanation has been given for these moves, made at 4pm on Friday after the police themselves cancelled a meeting to discuss the demo on Thursday morning.
The normal assembly time of 12pm and the assembly point has been public for days.
Changing the start time of the demonstration, which is marching to the Israeli Embassy, from the normal 1pm to 2.30pm is completely unpractical and will cause major problems, especially for people coming from outside London.
The organisers first informed the police of their plans on 8 August, more than three weeks ago. We worry that these kind of delays and late challenges and conditions to the plans of what are entirely peaceful demonstrations are forming a pattern. We urge the Metropolitan police to avoid causing disruption and accept that the march should go ahead at the normal, planned time and from Pall Mall as announced.
Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Palestinian Forum in Britain
Friends of Al-Aqsa
Stop the War Coalition
Muslim Association of Britain
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Signed by:
Apsana Begum MP
Baroness Christine Blower
Richard Burgon MP
Ian Byrne MP
Jeremy Corbyn MP
Lord Bryn Davies
Maryam Eslamdoust, TSSA General Secretary
Alex Gordon, RMT President
Fran Heathcote, PCS General Secretary
Lord John Hendy
Imran Hussain MP
Daniel Kebede, NEU General Secretary
Ayoub Khan MP
Ian Lavery MP
John Leach, RMT Assistant General Secretary
Clive Lewis MP
Mick Lynch, RMT General Secretary
Andy McDonald MP
John McDonnell MP
Iqbal Mohammed MP
Grahame Morris MP
Zarah Sultana MP
Jon Trickett MP
Mick Whelan, ASLEF General Secretary
Sarah Woolley, BFAWU General Secretary
- The National March for Palestine takes place on Saturday, 7th September, assembling at 12PM.
