07/26/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 07/26/2024 07:58
There will be a visible policing presence in central London on Saturday with a number of events, including protests, due to take place.
Around 1,000 officers will be on duty supporting the policing operation with the majority of resources directed at the following three events:
Conditions have been imposed under the Public Order Act on the two protest marches with the aim of preventing serious disruption. They are detailed at the bottom of this page.
Chief Superintendent Colin Wingrove, who is in charge of this weekend's operation, said: "This weekend sees a number of groups with opposing views assembling in central London. In response we are deploying a significant number of officers as part of a carefully planned operation.
"Our first priority is to keep the peace to ensure that those exercising their right to lawful protest can do so safely. We have proactively used our powers under the Public Order Act to manage the timings and routes of marches and assemblies, ensuring that the groups are kept apart. Officers will intervene decisively to deal with any breaches of those conditions, prevent crime, and to respond to any other incidents.
"Everyone has a right to feel safe and be safe in London. Those who abuse the right to protest in an effort to unlawfully intimidate others or to use hate speech can expect to face police action.
"The police presence will be very visible and I would urge anyone out and about in London, whether participating in these events or not, to speak to an officer if they feel unsafe or wish to report an incident."
The conditions are set out below as follows:
Participants in the protest organised by Tommy Robinson must assemble in the area shown on the map below and must remain there until the march sets off.
The march must not deviate from the route shown in the map below:
In order to keep those participating in the various events safe it will be necessary for us to close a number of roads across Westminster. It's likely that this will result in significant disruption and motorists are encouraged to consider using public transport or alternative routes.
The map below shows the roads and areas that will be particularly effected.