The Metropolitan Police must not favour the far right over Palestine

The Metropolitan Police must not favour the far right over Palestine.

We are appalled to hear that the Metropolitan Police have refused permission for the Palestine movement to march to commemorate Nakba day on 16 May on its proposed route and instead given over the political centre of London to a hate march called by racist thug ‘Tommy Robinson’ in response.

The far right has targeted the Palestine movement before. They have done so aggressively with verbal and physical violence directed at the movement and the police.

The Palestine movement marches on the nearest Saturday to Nakba day every year, and they informed the police of their intention to hold the 16 May march in central London on 18 December 2025. While the police have refused their route, Tommy Robinson’s demonstration has been granted Kingsway, the Strand, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall and Parliament Square.

We call on the police to immediately reverse this shameful decision. We call on everyone of good conscience to join us for Palestine on 16 May. We will march.

Signed by:

Palestine Coalition

Adnan Hmidan, Chairman, Palestinian Forum in Britain
Ismail Patel, Chairman, Friends of Al-Aqsa
Lindsey German, Convenor, Stop the War Coalition
Louise Regan, Chair, Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Raghad Altikriti, Chair, Muslim Association of Britain
Sophie Bolt, General Secretary, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

Parliamentarians

Adnan Hussain MP
Andy McDonald MP
Apsana Begum MP
Ayoub Khan MP
Baroness Christine Blower
Baroness Frances O’Grady
Baroness Jenny Jones
Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP
Brendan O’Hara MP
Cathal Mallaghan MP
Chris Hazzard MP
Clive Lewis MP
Diane Abbott MP
Grahame Morris MP
Ian Byrne MP
Ian Lavery MP
Imran Hussain MP
Iqbal Mohamed MP
Jeremy Corbyn MP
John McDonnell MP
John Finucane MP
Jon Trickett MP
Kim Johnson MP
Liz Saville Roberts MP
Lord John Hendy KC
Lord Peter Hain
Lord Tony Woodley
Lorraine Beavers MP
Órfhlaith Begley MP
Pat Cullen MP
Paul Maskey MP
Richard Burgon MP
Siân Berry MP
Zarah Sultana MP

Trade union and civil society leaders

Andrea Egan, General Secretary, Unison
Daniel Kebede, General Secretary, National Education Union (NEU)
Dave Ward, General Secretary, Communication Workers Union (CWU)
Dave Calfe, General Secretary, Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF)
Dr. Jo Grady, General Secretary, University College Union (UCU)
Eddie Dempsey, General Secretary, National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT)
Fran Heathcote, General Secretary, Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS)
Gawain Little, General Secretary, General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU)
Martin Cavanagh, President, Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS)
Maryam Eslamdoust, General Secretary, Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA)
Paul Fleming, General Secretary, Equity
Paul Novak, General Secretary, Trades Union Congress (TUC)
Sharon Graham, General Secretary, Unite the Union
Steve Gillan, General Secretary, Prison Officers Association (POA)
Steve Wright, General Secretary, Fire Brigades Union (FBU)
Zita Holborne, Joint National Chair, Artists’ Union of England
Areeba Hamid, Co-Executive Director, Greenpeace UK
Atala Said, OBE Patron and Founder, British Palestinian Committee
Dr. Aimee Shalan, Chair, British Palestinian Committee
Dr. Wajid Akhter, Secretary, General Muslim Council of Britain
Dr. Zena Agha, Interim Director, British Palestinian Committee
Dr. Mazen Masri, Co-chair, European Legal Support Centre
Hilary Westlake, Chair, Artists for Palestine UK
Jonathan Purcell, International Centre of Justice for Palestinians
Katie Fallon, Campaign Against Arms Trade
Liz McKean, Executive Director, War on Want
Nick Dearden, Director, Global Justice Now
Sir Iqbal Sacranie OBE, Founding Secretary, General Muslim Council of Britain

Prominent individuals including artists, academics, lawyers and community leaders

Alabaster DePlume, musician 
Alex Lawther, actor 
Alexei Sayle, writer and comedian 
Alfred Enoch, actor 
Andrea Kapos, filmmaker 
Andrew Feinstein, author 
Annie Lennox, musician 
Arthur Neslen, journalist 
Asif Kapadia, film director 
Billy Bragg, musician 
Billy Howle, actor 
Brian Eno, artist and musician 
Caryl Churchill, playwright 
Dame Harriet Walter, actor
David Farr, writer and director 
Denise Gough, actor 
Francesca Martinez, writer and comedian 
Gideon Mendel, photographer 
Gillian Slovo, writer 
Hugh Brody, anthropologist, writer and director
Jen Brister, comedian 
Joanne Limburg FRSL, writer 
Juliet Stevenson, actor 
Karishma Patel, journalist 
Khalid Abdalla, actor 
Matt Black, musician 
Maxine Peake, actor 
Michael Rosen, author 
Mike Leigh, filmmaker 
Miriam Margolyes, actor
Misan Harriman, photographer 
Nadine Shah, musician
Nicholas Kent, theatre director 
Nick Cassenbaum, playwright 
Norma Cohen, actor and writer 
Oreet Ashery, artist 
Paloma Faith, musician 
Professor Anne Karpf, writer and academic 
Rachael Clyne, writer 
Robert Del Naja, musician
Sam West, actor 
Sonja Linden, playwright 
Stephen Kapos, Holocaust survivor
Taj Ali, writer 
Talia Woodin, photographer and filmmaker
Tariq Ali, author 
Tracey Seaward, film producer 
Zawe Ashton, actor

Adnan Al-Sabah, Solicitor
Agnes Kory, Holocaust survivor 
Andrew Samuels, Emeritus Professor of Analytical Psychology at Essex and Visiting
Professor of Psychoanalytic Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London
Ajmal Masroor, Imaam & Presenter
Bernard Sufrin, Emeritus Fellow, University of Oxford
Bibi Khan, Chair, North London Council of Mosques
Caroline Russell, London Assembly Member Green Party
Carolyn Gelenter, daughter of Holocaust survivor 
Clare Leigh-Browne, British Psycho-Analytical Society
Claudia Webbe, former MP
Daniel Machover, Solicitor 
Diana Neslen, peace activist 
Dina Matar, Professor, SOAS University of London
Donald Sassoon, Emeritus Professor of Comparative European History, Queen Mary, University of London
Dori Kimel, University of Oxford 
Dr. Michelle Staggs Kelsall, Senior Lecturer in International Law, SOAS University of London  
Dr. Paul O’Connell, Reader in Law, SOAS University of London
Dr. Adam Darwish, Academic
Dr. Anas Altikriti, Global Alliance for Palestine
Dr. Feda Hassan, Consultant
Dr. Hafez Alkarmi, Academic and Researcher
Dr. Hannan Mohammad, NHS doctor
Dr. Mohammad Alhadj Ali, Chair of Trustees, Welsh Refugee Council
Dr. Nimer Sultany, Reader in Public Law, SOAS University of London
Dr. Omar Abdel-Mannan, President, Health Workers 4 Palestine
Graeme Segal FRS, University of Oxford 
Harriet Evans, Professor Emerita Chinese Cultural Studies, University of Westminster
Ian Gough FBA, Visiting Professor, London School of Economics
Jane Deighton, Founding Partner and Senior Consultant, Deighton Pierce Glynn solicitors
Jenny Manson, Co-Chair, Jewish Voice for Liberation 
John Chalcraft, Professor of Politics, London School of Economics
Leanne Mohamad, British Palestinian Activist 
Lesley Caldwell, Honorary Professor of Psychoanalysis, University College London
Linsay Taylor, CEO Muslim Engagement & Development (MEND)
Lynn Welchman, Professor of Law, Reader in Public Law, SOAS University of London
Lynne Segal, Professor Emerita, Birkbeck 
Margaret Owen OBE, International Human Rights Lawyer 
Marion Roberts, Emeritus Professor of Urban Design, University of Westminster
Maryam Ghasemi, Psychoanalyst  and Visiting Lecturer, Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust
Mica Nava, Emeritus Professor of Cultural Studies, University of East London
Michael Mansfield KC, Barrister
Mohammad Bassam Tablieh, Solicitor
Mohammed Kozbar, Chair, Finsbury Park Mosque
Nadine Finch, former Public Law Barrister 
Nathaniel George, Lecturer in Politics of the Middle East, SOAS University of London
Nour Norris OBE, Psychotherapist, Founder, SecureLife
Paul Heron, Solicitor
Penny Green FAcSS, Professor of Law and Globalisation, Queen Mary University of London
Prof Avi Shlaim, Emeritus Fellow, St Anthony’s College 
Prof Avner Offer, Professor emeritus University of Oxford 
Prof Catherine Rottenberg Professor of Media, Communications, and Cultural Studies, Goldsmiths, University of London
Prof Des Freedman, Goldsmiths 
Prof Emerita Karma Nabulsi, Senior Research Fellow, St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford
Prof Gene Feder OBE, Doctor and academic 
Prof Izzat Darwazeh
Prof Justin Shlosberg, University of Westminster 
Prof Kamel Hawwash, Human Rights Campaigner
Prof Natalie Fenton, Goldsmiths 
Prof Peter Hallward Professor of Philosophy, Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy, London
Prof Richard Caplan, University of Oxford 
Prof Jo Littler, Goldsmiths
Rabbi Frank Dabba Smith, multifaith activist
Reem Abou-El-Fadl, Senior Lecturer in Comparative Politics of the Middle East, SOAS University of London
Robert Lizar, Director of Health Law 
Sabah Al-Mukhtar, President, Arab Lawyers Association
Sarah Ricca, Solicitor
Tamara Ben-Halim, Co-founder and Trustee, Makan
Tanya Serisier, Professor of Feminist Theory, Birkbeck, University of London
Tanzil Chowdhury, Senior Lecturer in Law, Queen Mary University of London
Zoe Cohen, coach and activist 
Zoë Garbett, London Assembly Member Green Party and Hackney Councillor

Report in The Guardian

Annie Lennox and Miriam Margolyes are among artists who have accused the Metropolitan police of giving preferential treatment to a far-right demonstration led by Tommy Robinson over a pro-Palestine protest in London on the same day.

The pro-Palestine movement has had its preferred route through central London for its annual commemoration of Nakba – the mass expulsion of Palestinians – rejected by the Met, while the “Unite the Kingdom” demonstration will take place on the same date in Kingsway, the Strand, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall and Parliament Square. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, posted on X: “London is ours on May 16th.”

An open letter saying that the Met “must not favour the far right over Palestine” has also been signed by the actors Samuel West and Khalid Abdalla, the musicians Billy Bragg and Nadine Shah, as well as MPs, academics, lawyers, trade union and civil society leaders. The Met said the decision was based on the relative scale of the demonstrations.

Billy Howle, who starred in the TV shows The Perfect Couple and The Serpent and also signed the letter, said: “The shocking decision of the police to exclusively favour a far-right demonstration and block this important annual commemoration from the political heart of London will send shivers down the spines of every person of good conscience. It must be overturned.”

The letter says that the pro-Palestine movement informed the force on 18 December of its intention to march on the nearest Saturday to Nakba Day, in keeping with a tradition dating back more than a decade, but that the Met has “instead given over the political centre of London to a hate march called by racist thug ‘Tommy Robinson’”. It calls on the force to “immediately reverse this shameful decision”.

The route for the Nakba march has still not been finalised, with organisers concerned about the risks to participants posed by the far right, which the letter says has previously carried out “verbal and physical violence directed at the movement and the police”.

The Met’s decisions on the two marches come amid claims of increasing repression of Palestinian solidarity marches. Routes and timings have previously been restricted and in December the Met and Greater Manchesterpolice said they would arrest anyone chanting the words “globalise the intifada” or holding a placard with the phrase on it, citing fear in Jewish communities. Intifada means uprising or resistance and pro-Palestinian figures have denied it is a call for violence.

On Thursday, more than 30 MPs, led by Labour’s Andy McDonald and Kim Johnson, who have also signed the letter to the Met, tabled a motion to reject the government’s proposal to require police to consider the “cumulative impact” of repeated protests in the same area – drawn up in response to pro-Palestine demonstrations – when imposing conditions.

A Met spokesperson said decisions on demonstrations were not based on political affiliations but on safety and security. They said it could be “reasonably anticipated given the number of attendees at the last event organised by the same group” that the far-right event would attract “very significant crowds”, adding: “There are only a limited number of roads in central London that can be used to safely accommodate such a crowd, with Whitehall being the most suitable.”

They said the force would be open to meeting the organisers of the Nakba Day protest to agree an alternative location.

Separately, the Met said on Friday it was expecting “criminal offences” at Saturday’s Defend Our Juries demonstration in Trafalgar Square, central London, opposing the proscription of Palestine Action.

The ban was ruled unlawful by the high court in February, leading the Met to say it would stop arresting people for alleged support of the direct action group. But last month it said it would resume arrests given the ban remained in place pending the government’s appeal against the court’s decision.