Heavy-handed policing plan for anti-royalists suggests officers don’t worship the right to protest

As the patriotic din of the coronation dies down, an uncomfortable focus has landed on the Met over its handling of the arrest of seemingly peaceful protesters on Saturday. The force has been accused of undermining free speech and the right to protest and is now firmly on the back foot.

The arresting officers, police explained, suspected that the Republic protesters could use straps that were found in their van to “lock on” to street fixtures or each other to disrupt the coronation processions. Locking-on is now illegal under harsh new anti-protest laws that were rushed into law last week, receiving royal assent from the king just four days before his coronation.

Smith says three senior officers, including a chief inspector, called to his home on Monday to apologise. “I said, ‘For the record, I won’t accept the apology’. We have a lot of questions to [be answered] and we will be taking [legal] action,” he said.

Political commentary on policing has become as a major issue in Britain in recent years, most notably under the current Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, and her predecessor, Priti Patel.

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