The Metropolitan Police has been accused of “misleading” the Policing Minister over violent placards at last weekend’s mass trans rights protests in London.
Officers told Dame Diana Johnson that no threatening signs were displayed at Saturday’s demonstration in Parliament Square, leading her to insist in interviews that there was no evidence the law had been broken.
In fact, several threatening placards were visible at the protest.
These included two placards with hangmen and slogans such as “the only good terf is a _ _ _ _ one” implying gender-critical feminists should die.
Scotland Yard told Dame Diana Johnson that no threatening signs were displayed at Saturday’s demonstration
PA
Another urged opponents to perform a “DIY lobotomy” on themselves, while one more appeared to show bullet holes alongside the message: “I will make you listen.”
On Wednesday morning, Johnson told Times Radio that the Met had said the signs “came not from the protests on Saturday, but from other protests that had taken place in the past”.
When challenged that one sign shared by UCU general secretary Jo Grady was demonstrably real, the Policing Minister said she would “go back and raise that with the Metropolitan Police”.
Chris Philp, the Shadow Policing Minister, has now described the Met’s “misleading” briefing as “deeply alarming”.
He warned that any suggestion of unequal treatment of protesters risked reigniting a row over “two-tier policing.”
MORE ON THE MASS TRANS PROTESTS IN LONODN:
PICTURED: A protest placard shows ‘hangman’ figures alongside the phrase ‘the only good terf is a _ _ _ _ terf’JO GRADY/X“The police are quick to jump on certain protesters, they should be just as vigilant about these ones,” he said.
“Threats of violence towards women by pro-trans protesters are completely unacceptable, and the perpetrators should be identified and prosecuted.”
The Met initially said it had reviewed images of threats against women posted on social media and found they were either old, from other parts of Britain or not criminal.
But the force retracted this claim after The Telegraph showed it evidence that threatening placards were indeed from the London protest.
The Met is now reviewing the images, speaking to witnesses and examining CCTV footage.
Dame Diana Johnson told Times Radio on Wednesday that the Met had said the signs ‘came not from the protests on Saturday, but from other protests that had taken place in the past’
PA
Home Office sources suggested that the fault for any inaccuracy lay with the force, not the Minister – and indicated she should be able to trust senior police briefings.
One said: “The Met are prioritising correcting The Telegraph before briefing the policing minister.”
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said it did not mislead the minister.
“We reject these claims – we’ve said since Saturday’s protest that we were reviewing images circulating of placards and will take action if the law has been breached,” he said.
“This review continues and we will be contacting witnesses and reviewing CCTV. It would be inappropriate for us to comment further.”
