Rank and file officers claim Sarah Everard vigil infiltrated by members of XR and Antifa – Telegraph.co.uk

One of Britains most senior officers called for greater clarity about how police forces should deal with protests during the pandemic.

National Police Chiefs' Council chairman Martin Hewitt said balancing rights to protest with legal health regulations was complex and extremely challenging.

We want clarity so commanders on the ground can make those decisions in what are always very challenging circumstances," he said.

A senior police source said: There is a strong feeling in policing that the Government is throwing us under the bus. There was a strong view on Friday saying the vigil should not happen. Now they are stepping back and saying the scenes are awful.

We need a bit more clarity on what is okay and not okay. If you want us doing that at some protests but you don't want us doing it at other protests, are you looking for police to decide what is an acceptable protest and what is not? That's the mess we have been in.

However, a Government source countered that it was the ministers' role to set the laws, but it was for the police to determine how those rules should be applied.

Its not the Government's job to tell the police how to police protests. The exercise of police powers is a matter for the police force. Its up to the police to how they enforce the law, its not for Government to tell them, said the source.

Dame Cressida met members of the Reclaim these Streets campaign on Monday, who originally proposed the vigil, and refused their appeals to waive the fines of the women arrested on Saturday night.

I asked about waiving the fines for the women that were arrested on Saturday night, and her answer was 'absolutely not', said Jamie Klingler, one of the organisers.

"We feel that there's institutional misogyny and racism within the police and criminal justice system in the UK. Cressida Dick has lost our confidence and the confidence of women in the capital. There are no solutions forthcoming."

The Prime Minister confirmed his full confidence in Dame Cressida but described events at the vigil as "very distressing".

"The police do have a very, very difficult job. But there's no question the scenes that we saw were very distressing and so it is right that Tom Winsor, the inspector of constabulary, should do a full report into it. People have got to have confidence in the police and Tom's going to look at that."

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Rank and file officers claim Sarah Everard vigil infiltrated by members of XR and Antifa - Telegraph.co.uk