Sadiq Khan accused of ‘not looking after coppers’ in London protests
London’s police union has slammed Sadiq Khan’s response to the weekend’s protests, after more than 30 police officers were injured.
Metropolitan Police Federation chairman Ken Marsh accused Khan of not looking after police officers during the demonstrations and that he was “very disappointed” by the mayor’s response.
Thousands attended mostly peaceful protests over the weekend in London as a part of the global Black Lives Matter demonstrations.
The UK protests were sparked by similar events in America in the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
Some protesters turned violent against police officers outside Downing Street, with some also vandalising monuments such as the Cenotaph and Winston Churchill’s statue outside parliament.
Images were captured of some police being hit with projectiles, and other officers being punched and hit with makeshift weapons.
The mayor, who is in charge of the Metropolitan Police, put out a statement yesterday condemning the violence and said “this vital cause was badly let down by a tiny minority who turned violent and threw glass bottles and lit flares, endangering other protestors and injuring police officers”.
However, Marsh told City PM that Khan should not have let the demonstrations happen in the first place during the Covid-19 lockdown and that he had not shown enough solidarity with police officers in the aftermath.
Marsh said: “Why didn’t he shut the Tube when he knew this was going to happen?
“Leaders at tough times like this need to lead. He’s been a great advocate for the lockdown, but when it comes to this he’s done nothing.
“How’s that for looking after your coppers? I’m bewildered.”
Responding to Marsh’s comments, a spokesperson for Khan said: “The responsibility for banning protests lies with the police and not the mayor, but Sadiq has made it clear that Covid-19 remains a very real danger to our communities and urged Londoners to consider different ways to make their voice heard that does not put themselves or others at risk of infection.
“Those that behaved violently and irresponsibly [at the protests] are in no way representative of those that protested respectfully, and their actions towards police officers who worked long hours to facilitate the protest were totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated. “
Demonstrations were also seen in Bristol yesterday, where protesters pulled down a statue of 17th century slave trader Edward Colston.
Demonstrators were seen stomping on the statue and kneeling on its neck after it was pulled down, before they threw it into the River Avon.
Boris Johnson’s official spokesman said today that the Prime Minister condemned the actions of the Bristol protesters.
“People can campaign for the removal of the statue, but what happened yesterday was a cirminal act,” he said.
“The Prime Minister absolutely understands the strength of feeling, but in this country we settle our differences democratically.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the statue had “no place in 21st century Britain”, but that it “should have been brought down properly with consent and put, I would say, in a museum”.