Swella Braverman Demands Answers to Met Police Thin Blue Line Badge Ban

Metropolitan Police have been banned from wearing Thin Blue Line badges at London Pride this year. Photo: Avpics/Alamy

Swella Braverman has demanded an explanation from the Metropolitan Police over the ban on Pride officers from wearing a badge in memory of fallen colleagues.

The Telegraph understands that the Home Secretary was concerned learning that officers have been ordered not to wear the Thin Blue Line badge if it offends LGBT people.”

A source close to Ms Braverman said: “She asked for more information to understand what happened.”

The badge, which is a black and white Union flag with a thin horizontal the blue line is worn as a “mark of remembrance and respect” for those who died serving in the security forces.

However, it is said to resemble a similar symbol that was associated with American far-right groups.

The ban is 'non-negotiable'

On Saturday's eve of celebrations, when 1.5 million people took part in the London Pride March, the Metropolitan Police Commander issued advice saying: guard the event.

“They have been linked to far-right and anti-trans groups in the UK, and this year Pride has a strong focus on the trans community.

“This is non-negotiable and regulators should enforce this requirement.”

Dame Priti Patel, the former home secretary, told the Mail on Sunday that the advice was the result of “interested groups forcing political adjustment and false narratives on our hardworking cops.”

She said this the badge was “a sign of respect for the sacrifices our police officers make for their service and the threats they face day in and day out.”

Debbie Adlam also denounced this advice. , the mother of PC Andrew Harper, who died in the line of duty in Berkshire in 2019.

She told the Mail on Sunday that she considered the badge a “common memorial.”

“Because we have lost Andrew, we have considered the image of The Thin Blue Line as a universal memorial to the deaths of these officers,” she added.

“It worries me that there are those who want to remove the [icon].

“I hope today is not the beginning of the end for the Thin Blue Line and all that it means to us in the UK.”

The Metropolitan Police declined to comment.