UNITED KINGDOM: The Metropolitan Police’s arrests of the demonstrators who were against the monarchy during the coronation weekend would be assessed by a cross-party panel of MPs if an open inquiry would be launched to arrest them.
Six anti-monarchy demonstrators who were already in custody were the first people to be held under the broader Public Order Act on suspicion of possessing the tools to “lock on,” a strategy that protesters utilise to make it more challenging for police to relocate them.
The chairwoman of the Commons Home Affairs Committee, Dame Diana Johnson, stated that there were “real questions” to be addressed over how the law was actually put into operation and what directions were issued to officers prior to the Westminster Abbey service on Saturday.
The freshly approved powers, which were welcomed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, enable government officials to manage with “serious disruption,” he said.
Former Met assistant commissioner Helen King said it was “legitimate to ask questions” about how the police handled the protests, but she stressed that frontline officers did not possess a benefit of perspective when making instant decisions with regard to the public’s safety.
King said, “In my experience, the exact opposite is true; every policing decision entails a careful weighing of distinct human rights of different populations.”
She also added that Public safety was at the highest point of the priority list in the coronation case, a special operation, and the right to live is undoubtedly the most fundamental right of all.
According to the Labour MP, her committee on Wednesday in a meeting would “consider whether we want to spend some time looking at those particular issues” and then “decide whether we want to have that short inquiry to learn some lessons and see what the implementation of that act actually means in practice to frontline police officers.”
Dame Diana mentioned that the committee would be investigating the scope of the legislation and whether there is some lagging in terms of police training.
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