Rishi Sunak to police chiefs

Posted on by

'Mob rule' is replacing democracy in Britain, this needs to change: Sunak tells top police officers

British PM Rishi Sunak held a meeting with police chiefs on Wednesday

London:

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday that Britain is moving towards “mob rule” and that police will do more to protect the country’s democracy, after the government announced extra funding to keep MPs safe.

Several British MPs have said that abuses against them have become more intense since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, which sparked the war in Gaza, with some fearing they will be reprimanded if they express their views on the conflict. There will be a threat to your safety.

Parliament was thrown into chaos last week as tensions escalated over a vote on Gaza, with the Speaker of the House of Commons citing “horrific” threats against MPs for the decision breaking normal parliamentary procedure.

“There is a growing consensus that mob rule is replacing democratic rule. And we all need to collectively address this urgently,” Sunak said in a meeting with police chiefs on Wednesday, according to comments released by his office. It has to change.”

“We cannot allow this pattern of increasingly violent and intimidating behavior which, as far as one can see, aims to stifle free debate and prevent elected representatives from doing their job. This is completely undemocratic.”

Earlier, the Interior Ministry had announced 31 million pounds ($39 million) of funding to provide additional security to MPs and other officials.

Sunak said the new Democratic policing protocol would commit to extra patrols and make it clear that protests at the homes of elected representatives should be treated as intimidating.

He also made it clear that from now on the police should adopt a “consistent and strong approach” to protect our democratic processes from intimidation, disruption and subversion.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)