COPS are now guarding the statue of Winston Churchill amid fears of violent Remembrance Day clashes.
Met Police have doubled their officers in London this weekend as pro-Palestine demonstrators take to the streets.
LNPCops are guarding the statue of Winston Churchill in central London[/caption]
LNPIt comes as the national Cenotaph is being guarded 24/7 for the first time ever[/caption]
PAPolice fear the memorials could be defaced after tensions as thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered at a rally at Trafalgar Square in London last week[/caption]
Officials and cops are also on watch for the demonstrators coming head-to-head with Brits who are commemorating today’s Armistice Day march and tomorrow’s Remembrance Sunday.
It was last night revealed the national Cenotaph war memorial will be kept under 24-hour guard for the first time.
Steel barriers have been put up at the memorial and pro-Palestine protesters are banned from going anywhere near it until after tomorrow’s event.
And this morning officers were seen standing tall next to the statue of Winston Churchill, which was also fenced in with metal barriers.
It follows the defacing of the Cenotaph memorial in Rochdale on Tuesday night, when thugs sprayed “Free Palestine” on it.
Met deputy assistant commissioner Laurence Taylor warned that any such attack on the Whitehall memorial will not be tolerated.
He said: “We will ensure that remembrance is not disrupted and respected.”
The police yesterday warned that “pockets of confrontation” are expected with extreme right-wing groups planning to square up to pro-Palestine demonstrators in central London.
Cops will be trying to keep the factions away from each other, with Mr Taylor saying: “I do believe that if the groups come together there will be serious disorder.”
More than 1,000 cops are being drafted in from across the country to assist the 2,000 Met officers at today’s Armistice Day march and tomorrow’s Remembrance Sunday event in Whitehall.
Mr Taylor, the Met’s strategic gold commander in charge of the massive policing operation, warned of a zero tolerance policy to troublemakers.
In contrast to previous weeks, he said anyone chanting “Jihad” could face arrest with action being taken later to round up hatemongers caught on camera.
Mr Taylor said it was the biggest police operation ever mounted for any remembrance event.
Strict conditions have been applied to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign march taking place at 1pm from Park Lane to the US Embassy.
Protesters will not be allowed to deviate from the route and will be specifically excluded from the Whitehall area, where a large group of right-wing “defenders” are expected to be present.
Conditions exclude pro-Palestine demonstrators from going to large areas of the West End, including Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus after the march finishes by order at 5pm.
Police said their biggest fear is extremist elements converging to confront each other.
But Mr Taylor said officers will take “robust and agile” action against anyone breaching the law or strict pro-Palestine march conditions.
Well over 100,000 people are expected in London for today’s pro-Palestine march.
It comes after the Prime Minister last night urged everyone to “stand together in quiet reflection” and said the weekend should be about “the selfless bravery of our armed forces”.
Meanwhile, veterans were advised by military officials not to wear their medals or berets when they travel to Remembrance services today to honour the 1.3million servicemen and women killed in action since 1914.
LNPThe Met has doubled its officers in central London this weekend[/caption]
LNPCops were seen standing guard the the Churchill statue this morning[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
