Gary Lineker has backed pro-Palestinian protesters seeking ceasefire and peace and criticised home secretary Suella Braverman who called the pro-Palestine demonstration a “hate march”.
The Rishi Sunak administration has condemned the protests planned for Armistice Day later this month, calling it disrespectful, amid fears that the march could interfere with the two-minute silence for commemorating the war martyrs at the Royal Albert Hall.
“Marching and calling for a ceasefire and peace so that more innocent children don’t get killed is not really the definition of a hate march,” Mr Lineker said on X, social media platform, in response to the home secretary’s post.
Ms Braverman reshared the prime minister’s post and said: “It is entirely unacceptable to desecrate Armistice Day with a hate march through London.
“If it goes ahead there is an obvious risk of serious public disorder, violence and damage as well as giving offence to millions of decent British people,” she said, prompting flak from other social media users.
On Friday, PM Sunak said that the planning of protests clashing with Armistice Day is “provocative and disrespectful”.
He added that there is a “clear and present risk that the Cenotaph and other war memorials could be desecrated, something that would be an affront to the British public and the values we stand for”.
The protest plans stoked the continuing row as the prime minister said the “right to remember, in peace and dignity, those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice” had to be protected.
But the Labour mayor of London, Sadiq Khan accused the government of playing politics over the “terrible tragedy” unfolding in Gaza, after organisers taking to the streets on 11 November said they had no plans to disrupt Remembrance weekend events.
The row began after the security minister wrote to the Metropolitan Police and Mr Khan, asking them to look at halting the demonstrations. Tom Tugendhat – who said plans to hold the protest on a “day of grief” was “not an appropriate time” and “not an appropriate venue” – was later accused of “posturing” by Mr Khan, who said only the government had the power to ban marches.
March organisers accused Mr Tugendhat of “at worst, an incitement to public disorder”.
Armistice Day, or Remembrance Day, held on 11 November every year, is a Saturday this year, with the traditional Remembrance Sunday services the following day.
