Online Desk:
Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has called for clarity from the government on extremism as he faces criticism over the handling of pro-Palestinian protests in London.
It comes as two women have been arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred in Trafalgar Square.
Sir Mark said about 100 people had been arrested at demonstrations since the Hamas attack on Israel three weeks ago.
He added that “many more” arrests are expected in the near future.
Nine people were arrested in central London during a mainly peaceful pro-Palestine demonstration on Saturday, which was attended by at least 100,000 people calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
Seven of those were alleged public order offences, a number of which were being treated as hate crimes, while two were for suspected assaults on officers.
He said his officers are limited by legal definitions of extremism and that he would support a review into the definition and how it should be policed.
“There is scope to be much sharper in how we deal with extremism within this country. The law was never designed to deal with extremism, there’s a lot to do with terrorism and hate crime but we don’t have a body of law that deals with extremism, and that is creating a gap.”
He said lawyers from the Crown Prosecution Service are working in the police operations room to help identify offences.
“We’ve got these big protests and some of what goes on there, people do find it upsetting and distasteful and sometimes people give an instinctive view that must not be legal.
“But there’s no point arresting hundreds of people if it’s not prosecutable, that’s just inflaming things.
“We will robustly enforce up to the line of the law. We’re going to be absolutely ruthless, and we have been, and you’ll see many more arrests over the next week or so.”