Met sets out policing operation ahead of protests and other events

There will be a visible policing presence in central London on Saturday with a number of events, including protests, due to take place.

Around 1,000 officers will be on duty supporting the policing operation with the majority of resources directed at the following three events:

• A march organised by Tommy Robinson which will set off from outside the Royal Courts of Justice, ending in Trafalgar Square where a rally will take place.
• A march organised by Stand Up To Racism and other groups as a counter protest to the above event. It will set off from Russell Square, ending in Whitehall where a rally will take place.
• A Trans Pride event consisting of a march from Langham Place ending at Wellington Arch where speeches will take place.

Conditions have been imposed under the Public Order Act on the two protest marches with the aim of preventing serious disruption. They are detailed at the bottom of this page.

Chief Superintendent Colin Wingrove, who is in charge of this weekend’s operation, said: “This weekend sees a number of groups with opposing views assembling in central London. In response we are deploying a significant number of officers as part of a carefully planned operation.

“Our first priority is to keep the peace to ensure that those exercising their right to lawful protest can do so safely. We have proactively used our powers under the Public Order Act to manage the timings and routes of marches and assemblies, ensuring that the groups are kept apart. Officers will intervene decisively to deal with any breaches of those conditions, prevent crime, and to respond to any other incidents.

“Everyone has a right to feel safe and be safe in London. Those who abuse the right to protest in an effort to unlawfully intimidate others or to use hate speech can expect to face police action.

“The police presence will be very visible and I would urge anyone out and about in London, whether participating in these events or not, to speak to an officer if they feel unsafe or wish to report an incident.”

The conditions are set out below as follows:

Participants in the protest organised by Tommy Robinson must assemble in the area shown on the map below and must remain there until the march sets off.

The march must not deviate from the route shown in the map below:

The subsequent assembly in Trafalgar Square must remain in the area shown in the map below. It must finish by 5.30pm.

Participants in the protest organised by Stand Up To Racism must not commence their procession until 1.30pm or until otherwise directed to by a police officer.

Anyone participating in the protest must not deviate from the route shown in the map below.

Anyone participating in the subsequent assembly in Whitehall must remain in the area shown on the map below. It must finish by 4pm.

No conditions have been imposed in advance of the Trans Pride event.

In order to keep those participating in the various events safe it will be necessary for us to close a number of roads across Westminster. It’s likely that this will result in significant disruption and motorists are encouraged to consider using public transport or alternative routes.

The map below shows the roads and areas that will be particularly affected.