In a confidential Metropolitan Police letter, a senior officer lays out plans to arrest anyone who protests outside their MP’s home and also make it more difficult for constituents to lobby at their elected representatives’ offices.
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES
Peaceful protest: the Met is mobilising 1,500 officers to police this weekend’s demos in the capital
The Metropolitan Police is seeking to treat peaceful protesters and petitioners who seek to lobby their MPs and visit their offices as criminals.
That’s according to a confidential letter distributed yesterday to all London MPs and local councillors from Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan at Scotland Yard.
The letter is marked “OFFICIAL SENSITIVE”.
Inside Croydon has obtained a copy of the letter.
It is a long-established democratic right for constituents to be able to visit their MPs to lobby them or present letters or petitions in support of a case they wish to make. There have been examples of this happening in Croydon in the last month, as groups have sought the support of their elected representatives over calls for a ceasefire in Palestine.
Some attended the Croydon North constituency office of MP Steve Reed just to invite him to attend a meeting at the local mosque. The group was watched all the time by undercover Met detectives.
Protest ban: the Met’s Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan
There have also been group protests outside some MPs’ homes, which present a different set of issues for the police, as well as for the unfortunate neighbours who live on the same street as politicians.
Given the murders of MPs Jo Cox in 2016 and Sir David Amess in 2021, there is clearly a concern over the proper protection of politicians, at a time when the Met’s resources are being stretched more than ever.
The Met is mobilising 1,500 officers this weekend, 500 drawn from outside the capital, ahead of further mass demonstrations over the conflict in Palestine and Israel.
In a public statement, DAC Adelekan, who is heading up the police operation, said, “The Met supports the right for people to make their voices heard through protest providing it is done lawfully. However, the law also protects people from racist and religious abuse and prohibits the promotion of terrorism.
“While the majority of protesters have complied with these rules, a minority have crossed the line.”
But in his confidential letter to London MPs and councillors, Adelekan appears to be preparing to go much further in a clampdown against long-established rights of legitimate free speech and protest.
This may stem from complaints from Labour MPs, who have claimed that they and their staff have been targets of “vile abuse”, as according to the Grauniad, “pro-Palestine protesters targeted their offices after criticism of the party’s stance” on Israel’s attacks on Gaza.
Croydon’s Labour MPs Reed and Sarah Jones both obeyed their party whip and abstained when they had an opportunity to support a Commons motion calling for a ceasefire. Croydon’s Tory MP, Chris Philp, voted against the motion, but has attended at least two meetings of Muslim constituents since the conflict broke out in early October.
In his letter, under a heading of “Security of Elected Representatives”, DAC Adelekan wrote: “Since the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East we have seen an increase in threats and targeting of elected representatives.
“We have seen examples of criminal damage, harassment and groups gathering at offices and home addresses apparently intent on intimidating elected representatives. We know this criminal activity will be incredibly concerning.”
Letter of intent: the Met’s email to London MPs and councillors outlines the move to arrest anyone who dares protest outside an MP’s home
The top cop fails to explain how the police have determined that protestors were “intent on intimidating elected representatives”, nor how the police’s perceptions manage to make “groups gathering at offices” suddenly a “criminal activity”.
Adelekan wrote: “We wanted to write to convey our determination to take a zero tolerance approach to this criminality and reassure how seriously we take the safety and security of you and your staff.
“You will know there is a range of activity that we carry out as ‘business as usual’ but there is also a range of activity we have stepped up in light of the current environment.”
Adelekan then goes on to outline in painstaking detail over almost three pages what he calls “Work to mitigate the increase in threat to elected representatives”, explaining the work of the Parliamentary Liaison and Intelligence Team, which they call PLaIT, and a national network across every police force, called Operation Bridger, led by Commander Simon Messinger.
According to Adelekan’s letter, on Wednesday, meetings were held with London and national single points of contact, or SPOCS (they love an acronym), where they briefed on a range of issues, including:
- Ensure MPs’ offices have local contact numbers and routes to escalate concerns both in and out of hours
- Ensure MPs’ home addresses and constituency offices are flagged on their command and control systems with an appropriate response plan to any calls
- Be aware of leaks of MPs’ home addresses and consider an appropriate policing response to any potential protests
On constituency offices, Adelekan wrote, “Whilst we need to balance the rights of individuals to protest, we will take action against any activity that is causing intimidation.” This, clearly, offers the police very wide scope for interpretation.
The police, the DAC says, will operate “with due regard to allowing the offices to operate without unreasonable interference”. How “unreasonable” might a constituent have to become before they are driven away in the back of a police van?
According to Adelekan, placing protestors on the opposite side of the road from an MP’s office renders them no longer intimidatory.
The word on the streets: a sticker seen in Steve Reed’s Croydon North constituency
“In the case of serious disruption being caused, the police may use powers under S[ection]14 Public Order Act 1986 to impose conditions on the protest such as moving further away from the office or ensuring the protest finishes at a certain time.”
And the Met looks set to ban protests outside the homes of MPs.
“The targeting of protest activity at elected representatives’ home addresses is almost certainly going to be unacceptable,” Adelekan wrote.
Section 42 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001, he said, “gives the police the power to direct people away from a home address to prevent harassment; and S42A of the same Act provides a power to arrest for that offence where appropriate.
“This power has been briefed to frontline officers and they are under instruction to brief any such incidents into the Pan-London command team for immediate oversight.
“If such activity occurred the police should attend quickly and where appropriate take action to move protesters away.”
Inside Croydon asked the Metropolitan Police when, and under what law, “groups gathering at offices” had become a “criminal activity”.
A spokesperson said only that, “Any incident will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis,” and that the letter “sets out the Met’s position so we’ve nothing further to add”.
In Croydon, meanwhile, Mayor Jason Perry and Tory MP Chris Philp remain as the administrator and a member of a Facebook group which flaunts and celebrates criminal damage to public property, providing a forum for vandals, unchallenged by the forces of law and order.
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