Will the Armistice Day pro-Palestine march go ahead? Everything we know

Police reportedly fear that any potential public disorder at a pro-Palestine march on Armistice Day will be the result of far-right group and football hooligans.

The march's organisers have claimed their protest on Saturday will avoid the Cenotaph in Whitehall, but prime minister Rishi Sunak said there is a risk that war memorials could be "desecrated", branding the march "provocative and disrespectful".

The Met Police previously said it was considering a ban on the march on the Remembrance Day weekend but have since said that the protest will go ahead.

Sunak has said he will hold the Met Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley “accountable” for his decision to greenlight the “disrespectful” demonstration.

Hamas militants killed more than 1,400 people in Israel in a wave of attacks on 7 October and kidnapped more than 200 others.

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The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says Israeli bombings have killed more than 10,000 people in the Strip in the weeks that have followed.

Armistice Day on 11 November marks the date when the First World War ended, at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918.

The Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall, which is usually attended by members of the royal family, will take place on Saturday, with a two-minute silence observed at 11am.

Remembrance Sunday will take place the following day with events at the Cenotaph in Westminster.

Yahoo News UK explores why the planned pro-Palestinian march on Armistice Day is so controversial.

Recommended reading

• Deputy PM admits 'grave concerns' for Pro-Palestine march on Armistice Day (Evening Standard)

• Rishi Sunak says planned pro-Palestine march on Armistice Day 'disrespectful' (The National)

• Met Police could ban pro-Palestinian march on Armistice Day (PA Media)

What is the latest?

Prominent far-right groups and groups linked to football hooliganism are the most likely to cause public disorder at the march, according to The i.

The website says it has seen provocative WhatsApp messages in groups with more than 1,000 members issuing calls to “fight back” at the protest.

It says that members will travel from as far as Scotland to London, while a voice note from English Defence League (EDL) founder Tommy Robinson was allegedly shared in the group.

Police are reportedly aware of the groups who are planning counter-protests, The i added.

Meanwhile, the prime minister is set to meet Rowley to discuss the issue but raised tensions with the commissioner ahead of the meeting.

Speaking to broadcasters on Wednesday, Sunak said: “This is a decision that the Metropolitan Police Commissioner has made.

“He has said that he can ensure that we safeguard remembrance for the country this weekend as well as keep the public safe.

“Now, my job is to hold him accountable for that.”

Watch: Sunak to hold Met Commissioner ‘accountable’ for giving go-ahead to Gaza rally

Sunak said the government has asked the Met for information to “ensure” that the safety of the marches, adding: “More broadly, my view is that these marches are disrespectful and that’s what I’ll be discussing with the Police Commissioner later today.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Sunak was “picking a fight” with Rowley and accused him of “cowardice”.

Starmer wrote on X: “Remembrance events must be respected. Full stop.

“But the person the PM needs to hold accountable is his home secretary. Picking a fight with the police instead of working with them is cowardice.“

In a statement on Tuesday, Rowley said “there is no absolute power to ban protest, therefore there will be a protest this weekend”.

He said organisers of Saturday’s rally have shown “complete willingness to stay away from the Cenotaph and Whitehall and have no intention of disrupting the nation’s remembrance events”.

What have organisers said?

The planned demonstration has been organised by six groups, including the Stop the War coalition and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. They have pledged to avoid the Whitehall area where the Cenotaph is located.

The planned route would take tens of thousands of demonstrators from Hyde Park – about a mile from the Cenotaph – to the US embassy in Vauxhall, south of the River Thames.

In a statement, the protest organisers said: “We have made clear that we have no intention of marching on or near Whitehall, in order not to disrupt events at the Cenotaph.”

The statement added: "We are alarmed by members of the government, including the prime minster, issuing statements suggesting that the march is a direct threat to the Cenotaph and designed to disrupt the Remembrance Day commemorations.”

What has the government said?

The prime minister said on Friday: "To plan protests on Armistice Day is provocative and disrespectful, and there is a clear and present risk that the Cenotaph and other war memorials could be desecrated, something that would be an affront to the British public and the values we stand for."

Home secretary Suella Braverman, who would ultimately have the final say on any ban of the march, has gone further, describing the demonstration as a "hate march through London".

She said there was an "obvious risk of serious public disorder, violence and damage" if the march goes ahead on Saturday.

Braverman said any protesters who vandalise the Cenotaph should be “put into a jail cell faster than their feet can touch the ground”.

Culture secretary Lucy Frazier, who is of Jewish descent, said on Wednesday that the Met should keep the “very provocative” pro-Palestinian march planned for Armistice Day “under review”.

She said she is “concerned about activities that are taking place on these marches” and that there have been arrests involving “incitement to racial hatred”.

Transport secretary Mark Harper said on Wednesday: “The government’s position remains that it would prefer that the organisers didn’t hold the march.”

Watch: Deputy PM has 'grave concerns' over pro-Palestine Armistice Day march

What are the opposing views on the march?

Security minister Tom Tugendhat, who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, has he didn't think it was an "appropriate moment for a protest", and that he had written to the mayor of London, Westminster Council and the Metropolitan Police asking them to "look very carefully at the powers that they have".

However, the minister for veterans’ affairs, Johnny Mercer, has backed the right for demonstrations to go ahead saying he had "put on the uniform" to ensure people have the right to protest.

He also urged former military personnel not to join protests and stressed that the route of the march was not due to go near the Cenotaph in Whitehall.

Pressure group Campaign Against Antisemitism has called on the police to ban the march.

It said: “Section 13 powers allow the police to prohibit processions if other powers under the Act do not suffice to prevent serious public disorder. As we have seen over the past month, that threshold is now met."

Watch: Protesters call on Suella Braverman to stop 'stirring up hatred and fear'