Deputy Leader of Reform UK Ben Habib has criticised the Metropolitan Police's "two-tier policing", following another pro-Palestine march in London this weekend.
In a viral video from the march, a Jewish woman is seen notifying a police officer of a placard featuring a swastika. The officer tells the concerned woman that the symbol should be "taken in context" at the protest, sparking widespread backlash.
Reacting to the police officer, Habib said the swastika symbol should "not be justified in any context" and slammed the "totalitarian shut down of debate" by the officer.
Habib fumed that it "should have been taken as read" by the Met Police officer that the swastika symbol is "unacceptable".
Ben Habib says you're 'more likely to be arrested for wearing St George's flag' than if you 'carry a swastika'
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Habib fumed: "For goodness sake, this is a march effectively against Jews, and they've got a swastika up!"
GB News host Dawn Neesom was in agreement with Habib and questioned if the peace marches should be "banned all together".
Dawn said: "Why is it being fought out on the streets of London in 2024, where we have Jewish people terrified to come to the city?"
Putting the question to political commentator Jo Phillips, she defended the need for protests in Britain and asked why "we should stop these marches in particular more than stopping any other marches".
Over 200,000 people took to central London this weekend to protest for Palestine
PA
Phillips told Dawn and Habib: "I think that police officer engaged in a perfectly polite and civilised way. It's been dealt with, the fact that he engaged with her - you can't have it both ways."
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Habib hit back at Phillips, stating: "The debate there is evidence of multiculturalism not working.
"We've taken on far too many people into this country, encouraged them to maintain their own cultures, their own language, their own way of living, to live in silos, celebrated their positions.
"Our own culture has taken the knee to it, our culture is being abused here. There are prescribed groups who are going out under the cover of these anti-war marches to actually spread hate. And the swastika is a very good example."
Phillips argued in disagreement: "That is one example that has been dealt with, we believe, by the police out of 200,000 people. These people are protesting peacefully.
Habib made clear he is "in agreement that the right to protest must be protected", but argued that the Metropolitan Police have a "two-tier" policing system when it comes to the capital's protests.
Ben Habib says multiculturalism in Britain is 'not working'
GB News
Habib fumed: "If you had turned up with the Saint George's flag on your face and on your shirt, you're more likely to be arrested than if you carry a swastika, and something's gone fundamentally wrong with the way we're behaving as is. We're not a settled culture anymore, we're multicultural.
"In the United Kingdom, sadly, we haven't got a settled social construct. We are a nation struggling now to identify what its culture is. And part of the problem is the police now not knowing how to enforce the law. They come across as Saint George's flag, it's perfectly valid if you've got Saint George's flag painted on your face, to lock the guy up."
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police has said in a statement: "This clip is a short excerpt of what was a ten minute conversation with an officer.
"During the full conversation, the officer establishes that the woman the person was concerned about had already been arrested for a public order offence in relation to a placard.
"The officer then offered to arrange for other officers to attend and accompany the woman to identify any other persons she was concerned about amongst the protesters, but after turning to speak to his supervisor, she had unfortunately left."
