The banning of a UKIP protest in a Muslim community while pro-Palestine marches were allowed to take place in the wake of the Manchester synagogue attack has laid bare allegations of two-tiered policing by the Met.
A damning report by the think tank Policy Exchange today claimed that the widely held perception the force treats protest groups differently was in fact a ‘reality’.
In one example cited, the force applied for ‘very stringent conditions’ on a UKIP march in Tower Hamlets on the grounds it had caused ‘significant concern’ among the Muslim community.
Under the Public Order Action, the Met banned UKIP from holding its protest in Whitechapel or anywhere else in the borough of Tower Hamlets on October 25.
Meanwhile, pro-Palestine protesters were allowed to gather in London both in the aftermath of the synagogue attack in September and on the second anniversary of October 7.
This was despite criticism from Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who said Britain had become ‘indifferent to antisemitism’.
Some Jewish leaders, as well as university chiefs and senior politicians, also voiced their dismay at the timing of the demonstrations and the fact they had been allowed to go ahead.
Referring to the banning of UKIP’s protest in Tower Hamlets on October 25, Policy Exchange’s report read: ‘Such a decision may well have been justified on the grounds of preventing serious public disorder.
‘However, the willingness of the police to impose such stringent restrictions to safeguard the local Muslim population, while apparently being unwilling to go similarly far on behalf of the Jewish community or the broader public at previous events, indicates a readiness among senior officers to apply different standards to different groups.
‘If the rationale for the force’s decision is because they feared public disorder from those resisting the protest it is tantamount to an admission that ‘mob-rule’ has taken priority over the rule of law – an unacceptable state of affairs.’
The report also found: ‘Too often police choose to prioritise the rights and freedoms of protestors over the rights of ordinary people going about their daily lives’, with officers failing to arrest those committing criminal damage or shouting ‘jihad’ at pro-Palestinian rallies.
And despite the UKIP protest on October 25 being banned, masked Muslim protesters were allowed to take to the streets to ‘defend their communities’ the same day.
Videos shared on social media show young men dressed in black, with their hoods up and their faces covered, holding pro-Palestine flags.
One protester at the Whitechapel demo took to a microphone promising to ‘stand firm’ in defending their community from far-right protesters.
‘They came specifically targeting Islam,’ he said. ‘They said, “we are coming on a crusade”, they said “we need to take back our streets”.
‘We stand firm to let them know if you come, we will stand firm and will be ready to defend our elders, to defend our women, to defend our community.’
Elsewhere, Policy Exchange also criticised the Met Police’s ability to tackle runaway rates of mobile phone thefts, burglary and shoplifting.
In a stark assessment of the Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley’s three years in office, the report stated that many residents and visitors believe ‘there is a culture of impunity to crime in London’.
A whopping 81,279 mobile phones were stolen in London last year and shoplifting has risen threefold in only four years to 93,705 offences in 2024/25.
It comes as videos shared on social media show both thugs on e-bikes snatching gadgets out of people’s hands and shoplifters thieving huge hauls of goods.
In one example from March this year, two thieves were caught in the act of stealing a phone from a man in the affluent London area of Hampstead.
Shocking images show how the moped-riding pair, with their faces covered, mounted the pavement and grabbed the phone out of a man’s hand.
The pair are said to have then gone on to snatch two further phones from unwitting victims as they drove in the direction of Camden.
It comes as the force is solving only a tiny fraction of thefts, identifying the culprit in merely 1 in 20 robberies and burglaries, 1 in 13 shoplifting offences and 1 in 179 street muggings.
Now the Policy Exchange wants London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan to be stripped of responsibility for the Met’s oversight, saying the Home Secretary should be given the power to ensure the force’s performance improves.
Entitled ‘A Long, Long Way To Go’, the report criticises the force for choosing ‘to prioritise the rights of protesters over the rights of the wider public’ and accuses officers of doing more to protect Muslims over the Jewish community in various demonstrations.
It says: ‘With the apparently differential treatment of different groups based on either the cause of the protest or the identity of those protesting, it has become increasingly clear that ‘two-tier policing’ is not merely a perception but a reality.
‘This inconsistent application of police powers and the law is perhaps one of the most troubling aspects of modern policing – a factor which has seriously damaged policing’s reputation for fairness in the eyes of many.’
Elsewhere, the Policy Exchange suggested officers and staff be measured on crime fighting, with those failing to deliver being removed from their posts.
In the latest public survey, only 45 per cent of Londoners believe the force is doing a good job, down from 69 per cent in 2016.
Police station front counters have shut at a record rate, with just two set to remain open 24 hours a day in a city of 9 million people.
Meanwhile, 81,279 mobile phones were stolen in London last year and shoplifting has risen threefold in only four years to 93,705 offences in 2024/25.
The Policy Exchange blamed Sir Sadiq for reducing stop and search saying this ‘has had a catastrophic impact on the fight against crime’.
The report praised the Met’s record reductions in homicide, but said: ‘There is certainly no indication of the force taking a ‘zero tolerance’ to anything other than the most serious crimes.
‘Until this changes the belief that many residents and visitors have, that there is a culture of impunity to crime in London, will continue.’
Met Commander Hayley Sewart said: ‘Our New Met for London plan is delivering significant improvements on the issues that matter most to our communities and crime is falling across London.
‘Since April, offences like theft, robbery and vehicle crime are down nearly 15 per cent compared to the same period last year and officers are arresting around 1,000 more criminals every month.
‘At the same time, knife-enabled crime has reduced by 16 per cent and knife-enabled robbery by more than 23 per cent in the past year, and homicide in London is also at a 10-year low.
‘Despite a £260million funding gap and amid a shrinking Met, we are protecting neighbourhood policing, response policing and public protection so we can be there where and when the public needs us.’
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London, said: ‘Nothing is more important to the Mayor than keeping London safe and he continues to lead the way by being tough on crime with a record £1.16billion support for the police this year alone and tough on the complex causes of crime through the country’s first Violence Reduction Unit which is leading an approach rooted in prevention and intervention.’
