Israel-Gaza war: MPs call for protest organisers to give longer notice period

Pro-Palestinian protesters called for a ceasefire in Gaza outside Parliament last week

The Home Office should consider making protest organisers give a longer notice period to allow the police to better prepare, MPs have said.

The Home Affairs select committee is calling on the government to give the police more support, as marches continue over the Israel-Gaza war.

It cites the Met Police as saying it is under the "greatest period of sustained pressure" since the 2012 Olympics.

Under current rules, organisers must give six days notice of a public march.

Large demonstrations have been taking place across the UK since the 7 October attacks on Israel by Hamas and Israel began its military assault in response to destroy the group in Gaza.

The cross-party committee of MPs issued a report in which it found that policing the protests between 7 October and 17 December last year cost forces nationwide more than £25m.

It also found that demonstrations, and the "disruptive tactics" of some participants, were causing "unsustainable pressure" on policing resources.

"Should these protests continue indefinitely, it stands to reason that forces will be less able to carry out the everyday neighbourhood and response policing that is so vital to the public," the report said.

"If the protests continue to take place as frequently at this scale, the Home Office should consider amending requirements for protest organisers, such as increasing the notice period for protest organisers to inform the police from the current six days, to allow the police to prepare better."

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MPs also highlight that during a three-month period, more than 4,000 officer rest days were cancelled to ensure the protests could be policed safely.

The committee criticises the government for a lack of action on the rise in hate crime as a result of the conflict in the Middle East. It also says the hate crime action plan expired four years ago and accuses ministers of not responding to reports on the issue.

The committee also expressed concern over protests outside the homes and offices of MPs.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says that at least 29,782 people, mostly women and children, have been killed since the war began in October.

Israel's military offensive was triggered by Hamas's unprecedented attack on 7 October in which gunmen killed about 1,200 people - mainly civilians - and took 253 back to Gaza as hostages.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) says the report fails to address "the increasingly urgent need to... ensure the safety of this country's Jewish community".

"The committee has rightly acknowledged the immediate and severe threat posed to their MP colleagues by intimidation and violent attacks but, despite having extensively quoted our evidence in their report, they do not appear to have treated the threat to the Jewish community with the same degree of alarm," a spokesman says.

He adds that the call for protest organisers to give more notice "would not change the actual nature of these marches and therefore solves nothing other than timesheet planning for our overstretched police forces".

Under the Public Order Act 1986, police must be notified at least six days before a public march is intended to take place. The committee report does not detail the precise notice period it is recommending.

The BBC has contacted the Home Office for comment.