Met chief Sir Mark Rowley defends sergeant who made ‘openly Jewish’ remarks

Sir Mark Rowley has defended the officer who described an anti-Semitism campaigner at a pro-Palestinian march as “openly Jewish”, saying his conduct was “professional”.

The Met Commissioner acknowledged that some of the language used during the exchange with Gideon Falter, the head of Campaign Against Antisemitism, was “clumsy and offensive” but insisted the sergeant would not be disciplined over the matter.

Sir Mark has faced calls to resign over the row. Critics have also urged him to curtail the weekly anti-Israeli demonstrations and Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, said his support for the commissioner was contingent on him rebuilding trust with the Jewish community.

But in a defiant response to calls for him to quit, Sir Mark insisted that his officers were handling a difficult situation well and he condemned those who sought to “set up” the police by filming exchanges and then posting the footage online.

He said: “The sergeant at the scene clearly assessed that there was a risk of confrontation and was trying to help Mr Falter find a different route. I completely understand why the sergeant made this assessment. A couple of turns of phrase were clumsy and offensive … and we’ve apologised for that.

“The wider actions and intent of the officer were professional and in the best tradition of British police trying to prevent disorder.”

On Monday, Mr Sunak had said he shared the “shock and anger” that many had felt having watched the footage of the exchange between the officer and Mr Falter.

Of Sir Mark, he said: “I do have confidence in him, but that’s on the basis that he works to rebuild the confidence and trust of not just the Jewish community but the wider public, particularly people in London but more broadly.”

In an interview with The Guardian, Sir Mark said: “The Prime Minister can choose his own words.”

On Monday, Sir Mark was summoned to a meeting with James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, and Chris Philp, the policing minister, to explain his handling of the situation.

After the meeting, Mr Cleverly said: “Jewish people will always have the right to be able to go about their daily lives safely and freely, in London and across the UK.

“Sir Mark has reassured me he will make this clear to all sections of the community as a matter of urgency.

“The Met’s focus now is rightly on reassurance, learning from what happened and ensuring that Jewish people are safe and feel safe in London. I support them in that critical endeavour.”

He went on: “The force’s focus should be on policing protests properly and fairly, and we will continue to back forces in using all necessary powers to manage these often difficult situations and to keep people safe.”

Scotland Yard is facing mounting calls to impose tighter restrictions on pro-Palestinian marches, with some warning that London has become a “no-go zone for Jews”.

In a meeting with community groups on Monday, Sir Mark was urged to use his powers under the Public Order Act to clamp down on the number of demonstrations that are allowed to take place.

In a joint statement, the Jewish groups said: “We urge the police and Government to work together to find ways to limit this impact through reducing the number of protests, moving them to less disruptive locations and acting firmly and consistently whenever offences are committed by people on the demonstrations.”

Writing, below, for The Telegraph, Dame Priti Patel, the former home secretary and Sir Michael Ellis, the former attorney general, said: “Urgent changes must be made to the policing of these protests. The police have the powers they need but are failing to use them.

“It is time to curtail these protests, which for too long have infringed the rights of others and been used to intimidate and abuse the Jewish community.”

However, Sir Mark said much of the criticism of the Met’s failure to apply the law properly was “ill informed”.

In a further meeting on Monday, Sir Mark also discussed the matter with Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, who stressed the Met must have the confidence of the communities it serves.

The Met must act quickly to reassure the Jewish community

By Dame Priti Patel and Sir Michael Ellis
 
The policing of protests and demonstrations nowadays is rarely easy. Recent court rulings have made it harder to get right. The Gaza protests are proving acutely controversial and are testing the rights of other Londoners to go about their own lawful activities unimpeded.
 
Many front-line police officers are abstracted from other duties in their local communities, including sometimes from outside London. They have to make quick decisions in response to complex and fast-changing situations. We must always remember that the police are the thin blue line that both defends our freedom of speech and protects us from crime and disorder. But the public are starting to lose confidence in the police.
 
Since the horrific massacre of Jews on Oct 7 2023, and throughout the subsequent conflict, the streets of London have been the stage for protests of unprecedented length and scale. This has had an adverse effect on community tensions in the UK.
 
Against this very difficult background our police officers – still following the model of policing by consent and still probably the best-trained in the world – today face pressures and threats few others ever experience.
 
When thousands of police officers are deployed to maintain order at demonstrations it is inevitable that some things will go wrong. Officers, even those acting with the best of intentions, will make mistakes. But it is police leaders who are responsible and when mistakes happen it is vital that lessons are learnt comprehensively and quickly.
 
We are horrified by the videos of the incident involving Gideon Falter. The Prime Minister has understandably said he was appalled. A Jewish man was told that he should leave an area of London because he looked Jewish. To say that this is unacceptable would be crass understatement.

People should never be marginalised

No one should feel like a criminal or be considered “provocative” just because of their religion. People should never be marginalised by authorities because of their faith and displays of their religious belief.

There is a reason that depictions of Lady Justice like the statue on top of the Old Bailey show a figure blindfolded.  Justice means that police must ensure they respond appropriately to all communities irrespective of size or influence – equal justice for all. This is the long tradition of British policing since Peel.

Protecting the Jewish community has become as important now as at any time since the Met acted to protect the Jewish community from Oswald Mosley’s fascists in the 1930s.
 
We would never tolerate the police telling a black or Muslim Londoner to disperse just because some far-Right protest was marching past and it is outrageous to stop a Jewish person just because his presence is apparently intolerable to anti-Semitic protesters.
 
The Metropolitan Police has acknowledged that it got this badly wrong; their initial response caused further unacceptable distress which has only exacerbated concerns about the anti-Semitism and blatant discrimination against our Jewish community and this has gone on for too long. A major crisis in London’s policing is now evident.
 
Feeling unwelcome and unsafe in London is an experience which Jewish people are reporting on an industrial scale. It has to stop.
 
The question for the police is what should they do next? The Met has rightly acknowledged that nobody should be told that being “quite openly Jewish” is a provocation. But it needs to go further.
 
This is a crucial moment. Thus far the response to the Israel-Gaza protests has lacked sufficient understanding of the concerns and vulnerabilities felt by the Jewish community as well as other Londoners wanting to proceed with their lives.

There has consistently been a lack of understanding of Jewish values, faith and identity which has resulted in the most egregious failure to show respect and dignity towards the Jewish community. Their fears have increased. What happened to Mr Falter was a disgrace but it was sadly not an isolated incident much removed from what other Jews have endured, including when leaving synagogues or on public transport.

Central London has become a no-go area for Jews. Anti-Semitism is on the rise and has been fuelled by hateful behaviour we have seen during the protests and elsewhere.

Despite additional government support for the Community Security Trust, Jewish communities in London are not being reassured by police actions. Treating being Jewish as a “provocation” is the same as treating being black, Asian, gay or female as a provocation. All too often Jews are made to feel that different rules apply to them.
 
Unless overdue action is taken immediately and changes made to the policing of these protests, Jews in London and throughout the UK will continue to feel unsafe. The police have the powers to restrict these protests and to put it bluntly, they must restore order on the streets of London.

These protests have undermined the case for tolerance in our free and open society. They have led to our great capital city being disrupted for too long. Valuable policing resources have been taken away from dealing with the very criminals who are robbing Londoners and breaking into their homes. The Met needs to act now.
 
Bridges must be built with the Jewish community. It is frankly unsurprising that Sir Mark Rowley is facing calls to make way for new leadership and he must be at the forefront of work now to rebuild trust. This situation is becoming an existential crisis for the Metropolitan Police as we have known it.

Face up to hard truths

Sir Mark was brought in as commissioner less than two years ago to turn around the Met following the serious crisis raised about its conduct and culture, the ongoing and total failure of the current Mayor of London to grip the unprecedented concern about policing in London and the departure of Sir Mark’s predecessor in difficult circumstances. A crisis in the Met affects policing across the country and drastic change in the Met is required to rebuild trust and confidence in our police and the national model of policing.

It falls to the police commissioner and the Mayor of London to face up to some very hard truths and work together to effect change. Sadiq Khan has consistently failed to show such leadership and tackle the multiple issues associated with the Met Police. Sir Mark has one option left: to act now to show that policing will make visible and enduring improvements.

A crisis in the Met affects policing across the country and drastic change in the Met is required to rebuild trust and confidence in our police and the national model of policing.
 
These protests have been replete with anti-Semitic chants and threats. Whatever one’s views about the Israel-Gaza conflict, holding British Jews corporately responsible for Israel’s actions is racist, repugnant and also rather stupid. Yet that attitude is widespread and endemic. Whenever something significant happens in the Middle East, British Jews pay a price.
 
Urgent changes must be made to the policing of these protests. The police have the powers they need but are failing to use them. It is time to curtail these protests which for too long have infringed the rights of others and been used to intimidate and abuse the Jewish community.

With public trust and confidence in policing rapidly declining, the commissioner has to operationally change direction or lose the backing of senior politicians and of our communities.  He must give the Jewish community the protection and security they need while ensuring the right to protest is exercised reasonably, within the law and without fear or favour.