A Tory MP has urged police to act after a war veteran caught up in a pro-Palestine protest while trying to sell poppies claimed he was “punched and kicked” by the mob.
Former minister Jonathan Gullis insisted those responsible for the alleged attack on Jim Henderson, 78, in Waverley Station, Edinburgh should be swftly brought to justice.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, the MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke said: “Those responsible for this act of barbarity against someone who risked their lives for our freedoms, need to be arrested and imprisoned.
“Police forces across our country need to get a grip on these so-called ‘protests’, and start enforcing the law with the powers they have!”
Detailing the alleged ordeal, Mr Henderson, who served in the Royal Corps of Signals, 32 Signal Regiment, claimed station staff were forced to intervene and shove protesters out of the way after more than 1,000 flooded the busy hub.
He told the Daily Mail: “I was getting shoved backwards – in danger of falling – and one of them stood on my foot and split my toe.
“So I thought I had got to get the money out of here. So I went down, and as I bent down someone punched me in the back.
“And then I got another punch in my side. I’ve never known anything like it.”
Mr Henderson’s account comes as tensions grow over a “Million March for Palestine” planned for Remembrance Day on Saturday, November 11.
The protest caused the Met Police to issue a fresh please for its organisers to “urgently reconsider”, describing the plans as “not appropriate” during a meeting on Monday.
But pro-Palestinian groups have defied calls to postpone the demonstration on Armistice Day.
The coalition of groups, which includes Stop the War and the Muslim Association of Britain, insisted they would press ahead with the demonstration calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Met Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan, who leads public order policing in the English capital, said: “The risk of violence and disorder linked to breakaway groups is growing.
“This is of concern ahead of a significant and busy weekend in the capital.
“Our message to organisers is clear: please, we ask you to urgently reconsider. It is not appropriate to hold any protests in London this weekend.”
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Home Secretary Suella Braverman welcomed the Met’s statement.
She said: “The hate marchers need to understand that decent British people have had enough of these displays of thuggish intimidation and extremism.”
The organisers of the protest said they were “deeply concerned” by the Met statement.
They said the force could not provide “any evidence” for why the risk of breakaway groups engaging in criminal activity would be any greater.
The organisers added: “We recognise the political pressure being placed on the police by the Government and right-wing political groups.
“However, we emphasise that they had and have a responsibility to withstand that pressure and act to uphold democratic freedoms.
“We will be holding a protest on Saturday and we invite all people of conscience to join us in peacefully marching as planned.”
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