Met Police Chief Says UK Laws Not Designed to Deal With Extremism

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley appearing before the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee, to answer questions about the David Carrick case, at City Hall in east London, on Jan. 25, 2023. (Yui Mok/PA Media)

There’s no British law designed to deal with extremism, the chief of the Metropolitan police said amid an ongoing controversy around what actions seen during pro-Palestinian protests are legal or illegal.

After chants of “jihad” were heard in one of the protests amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, government ministers have called for “the full force of the law” to be brought against those who call for jihad, but the chiefs of the Met and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have defended their judgement that the chants at the Hizb ut-Tahrir demonstration on Oct. 21 are permitted under current law.

Speaking on Sky’s “Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips” programme, Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley rejected the idea the Met hasn’t been tough enough when policing the protests.

“We will robustly enforce up to the line of the law. We’re approaching 100 arrests in these events over recent weeks across dealing with local hate crime and dealing with these protests,” he said, adding that there are still appeals out there to find suspects, such as women who were pictured have images of paragliders on their backs.

Motorised paragliders were among the vehicles used by Hamas terrorists to cross the Israeli border on Oct. 7 when they massacred Israeli civilians and some soldiers, raped women, and took hostages.

No Law That Deals with Extremism

Sir Mark said there’s “scope to be much sharper in how we deal with extremism” in the UK.

“The law was never designed to deal with extremists. And we have bodies of law to deal with terrorism, bodies of law to deal with hate crime, we don’t have a body of law that deals with extremism, and that is creating a gap,” he said, citing the chants of “jihad” as an example.

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In a report Sir Mark co-authored in 2021, he called for a new set of laws to criminalise hateful extremism, saying many “hateful extremist” activities, such as glorifying terrorism and intentionally stirring up racial hatred, can fall through the cracks between hate crime legislation and laws on terrorism so long as one avoids encourage acts of terrorism or being threatening.

Jonathan Hall, KC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, has agreed with the Met, telling The Telegraph that people seen shouting “jihad” in the clip had been “very careful” to call on the armies of Egypt, which is an official force, rather than any individuals to pursue jihad. However, he believes it’s too tricky to make new laws against hateful extremism without “going too far” in restricting free speech.

Asked whether he wants new legislation on hateful extremism, Sir Mark said, “I think the balance of free speech versus this is for Parliament to decide. But things people are saying they want to enforce, we can’t. It’s up to them to decide.

Speaking on the same programme earlier, Science Secretary Michelle Donelan said the government is keeping “everything under review” when asked about a media report that said the government is reviewing the definition of extremism.

“We have a definition. ... and we believe that the current law is fit for purpose. We do have, of course, the Terrorism Act [and] the Public Order Act that the police can deploy in these types of circumstances where people are actively promoting their terrorist organisation or inciting hatred and promoting violence,” she said, adding that the police have already made arrests.

Pressed on whether there is a review of the definition of extremism, the minister said, “So everything is always kept under constant review. In terms of a formal review, what we said to date is that we believe the existing law is robust enough, and the police should be applying that in the circumstances. Of course, if we feel that over the coming weeks, that’s not enough. What I’m saying to you is, of course, we'd take further action.”