British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has sacked his home secretary Suella Braverman over her sharp criticism of Police amid the ongoing Pro-Palestine rallies in the United Kingdom reported Reuters.
Sunak had been under pressure to get rid of Braverman after her article in the Times UK that criticised the Metroplitan Police for allegedly going soft on ceratin radical elements in Pro-Palestine rallies.
According to Reuters, the UK Home Secretary accused the police of applying a “double standard” to rallies, particularly pro-Palestinian marches, in an opinion piece published before a pro-Palestinian march on Saturday.
Braverman, a likely contender for the Conservative Party’s future leader, had consistently denounced the tens of thousands of demonstrators who have assembled in London since Hamas’s attack on Israel last month. The rallies have been dubbed “hate marches” and “mobs” by Braverman.
Braverman has been long known to make controversial statements for national security, or police, according to Reuters.
On October 10, Braverman issued a warning to police chiefs for displaying Palestinian flags on the streets of the UK. She stated that waving the flag “may not be legitimate” if it is viewed as a show of support for terrorism, according to Anadolu Agency report.
Suella Braverman even provided examples of protest actions that she believed could potentially be considered violations of public order, including targeting Jewish neighbourhoods, waving pro-Palestinian or pro-Hamas symbols, and chanting slogans that could be interpreted as anti-Israeli.
Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters have marched in London and across the UK, calling for an end to Israel’s attacks on Hamas. Notably, Israel launched a counter-offensive against Hamas after the latter launched an attack on the former on October 7.
On November 11, London saw one of the largest Pro-Palestine marches since the Israel-Hamas conflict began. Thousands of protestors marched from Marble Arch in Hyde Park through the capital down the Vauxhall Bridge Road, and crossed the River Thames en route to the US Embassy on Nine Elms Lane. The march ws in opposition to US President Joe Biden’s unwavering support for the Israeli military’s ground operation in Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks of October 7 that killed 1,400 Israelis and took 200 hostages.
Israel’s Channel 12 reported that the demonstration had witnessed pro Hamas slogans and anti-Jewish chants, antisemitic banners.