Prison for protesters who climbed war memorials

Demonstrators climbing war monuments, such as these pro-Palestinian protesters at the Royal Artillery Memorial on Hyde Park Corner on November 15, will be arrested Photo: Twitter

Protesters who scale war memorials face jail and a £1,000 fine over a crackdown on pro-Palestinian demonstrations, ministers will announce this week.

Those found guilty face a three-month prison sentence and a fine under a change in legislation that Home Secretary James Cleverley said will punish those who intend to «offend those who have paid the ultimate price for their freedom to protest.»

Last November, footage of pro-Palestinian protesters scaling the Royal Artillery Memorial in London sparked widespread outrage, with Rishi Sunak calling it «an insult to our armed forces.»

Mr Cleverley, a Royal Artillery reservist, said then that it was “clearly wrong” and “deeply disrespectful.”

However, the incident did not lead to arrests and people were allowed to leave. on the way after descending from the monument.

Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, said his officers failed to take action because, although it was «regrettable» and «in some ways inflammatory», it was not against the law.

Pro-Palestinian protesters descended from the Royal Artillery Memorial and were not arrested

Defending his officers, he said: “That is the nature of policing. This is debatable. What the officer didn't do was write down a law saying it was illegal to do something, and didn't make an arrest, which obviously would have been illegal.»

After this incident, the Prime Minister's spokesman said that the government will «consider what further measures are needed to ensure that police can be confident that they will take action on this matter.»

Now, according to an amendment to be passed under the Criminal Justice Bill, the rise on war memorials would be a particular breach of the peace in England and Wales.

The change to the law will be part of a wider plan to be unveiled this week aimed at tackling public order. disorder at protests.

'Causing damage'

Mr Cleverley said: «Recent protests have shown that a small minority are dedicated to causing damage and insulting those who have paid the ultimate price for their freedom to protest.»

p>

“Peaceful protest is fundamental to our county, but War Memorials are an affront to these monuments of remembrance and cannot continue.

“That is why I am giving the police the powers they need to ensure they have the tools to maintain order and peace on our streets.”< /p>

The fight against disruptive protests has risen to the top of the agenda due to mass demonstrations against the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip in response to the Hamas attack on October 7.

In Thousands of protesters descended on London on Saturday for another pro-Palestinian march.

Some marchers were filmed chanting “Yemen, Yemen makes us proud, turn around another ship,” in an apparent show of support for Houthi attacks on shipping in Red sea.

Other demonstrators were photographed holding signs with anti-Semitic stereotypes, including one that claimed that “our media, television, radio and government are controlled by Zionists.”

< p>Another poster claimed that “The BBC is an arm of the Zionist propaganda machine.”