The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, has said that laws surrounding hate crimes ‘need redrawing’ after facing criticism following the policing of a pro-Palestinian rally in London.

This follows footage of a man chanting ‘Jihad’ at a smaller rally held by the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir. The MET chose not to make an arrest as the term Jihad has “numerous meanings”.

Rowley stated that the police were ‘ruthless in tackling anybody who puts their foot over the legal line… while our job is to enforce that line, Parliament’s job is to draw the line – maybe some of the lines aren’t in the right place.’

Rowley raised the issue with Home Secretary Suella Braverman, during a meeting discussing antisemitic incidents since the Palestinian-Israel crisis broke out. The Home Office noted that Braverman ‘recognised complexities of the law in policing such protests’ and the government will ensure the ‘police have everything they need to maintain law and order.’

Ahead of Saturday’s London demonstration in support of Palestine, Braverman published a letter to chief constables in England and Wales. The Human Rights charity Liberty described this as an ‘extraordinary letter… directing the police to abuse their powers in order to crack down on expressions of solidarity with Palestine – even going so far as to say that waving a Palestinian flag could be a criminal offence’.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had stated that ‘calls for Jihad on our streets are not only a threat to Jewish community, but to our democratic values.’ However, Downing Street assured there were ‘no plans’ to grant police more powers to deal with chants that can be considered extremist.