‘No confidence!’ Tory MP demands urgent overhaul of Met Police as he blasts ‘aggressive’ Palestine marches
Conservative MP Danny Kruger has claimed it is “not enough” to remove Sir Mark Rowley as the Met Police Commissioner, as the force faces a fresh antisemitism row.
The Metropolitan Police apologised this week for “causing offence”, after an officer told Jewish man Gideon Falter that he was being “openly Jewish” during a pro-Palestinian protest in London.
Speaking to Camilla Tominey on GB News, Kruger admitted he has “no confidence” in both Sir Mark Rowley and all leaders of the Met Police, claiming there is a “problem with the culture of the police”.
Kruger hit out at London Mayor Sadiq Khan, telling Camilla: “Ultimately that comes from the top, which is with the Mayor who oversees them.”
Reacting to the statement made by the Met Police about the incident involving Gideon Falter, Kruger said it was an “absurd” statement, and the police have a “genuine problem” with policing the growing pro-Palestinian protests in London.
Kruger added: “We have a genuine problem with the way the police regard these protests, which you see from the top, through the commissioner, through the deputy commissioner, through to the officer on the ground, the one who caused the offence by accusing Falter of being openly Jewish – all the way through we have a problem.”
When asked by Camilla if it is a case of the Met Police being “politically correct” and not wanting to upset certain groups, Kruger said there is an “unfortunate alliance” between the force and the radical pro-Palestinians, but “not a deliberate one”.
He told Camilla: “I don’t accept that Islamists are somehow pulling the levers of London. But there is an unfortunate alliance between very radical people on the pro-Palestinian side of politics, and progressive liberals who do run our institutions, including the police, who are afraid to challenge that first group.”
Kruger claimed: “I’m afraid it does justify what Suella Braverman was saying six months ago, along with a bunch of us, which is that the policing of the Palestinian marches represents a contradiction and a hypocrisy on the part of the police who claim to be policing impartially.”
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When pressed by Camilla on Kruger’s stance on Sir Mark Rowley, he admitted: “I would like to see change. I’d like to change from the top, I’d like the Mayor to go, first thing.
“It’s not enough just to change an executive. You have to change the culture of the organisation. If we just swapped him with another colleague who felt the same way, what would we have achieved?”
Kruger continued: “I think this is a responsibility on government, which also has a role over the police. We need to see a reset of the way the police regard these protests and in fact, policing in London in general.
“So we have a genuine problem and it’s not enough just to create a scapegoat with the Commissioner.”
Speaking in defence of the Met Police, Kruger admitted that they “do have a very difficult job” with policing the ongoing protests, but despite them “trying not to do the wrong thing, they are doing the wrong thing”.
Kruger explained to GB News: “It’s just totally wrong that any citizen, but particularly in the times we’re in at the moment, a Jewish citizen, should not be able to walk around London without being told by the police that his presence is a problem.
“And I understand they felt that because there was a danger of an altercation of people on the march attacking him, and they were clearly threatening him. Well, the problem is the people on the march. We should acknowledge that most people who are marching on these Palestinian marches are not angry or aggressive people, and they’re just doing it in the cause of Palestine.
“But there is a significant contingent who are aggressive and militant and potentially violent against Jewish people. So on that ground, I think the marches should not be going ahead, certainly in the form they are.”