Met commissioner denies intervening in politics after Polanski letter
Mark Rowley defends open letter to Green party leader over Golders Green arrest as police assess upcoming protest marches
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- Metropolitan Police commissioner Mark Rowley has denied intervening in politics after writing an open letter to Green party leader Zack Polanski, accusing him of fuelling tensions over the arrest of the Golders Green attack suspect.
- Rowley defended his letter as necessary to support officers whose confidence was being undermined by inaccurate commentary.
- The dispute arises days before local elections and as police assess whether nationwide marches can proceed, with the UK terror threat level raised to severe.
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The Metropolitan Police commissioner has denied he was “intervening in politics” after writing an open letter to a politician over the way officers arrested the Golders Green attack suspect.
Mark Rowley accused Green party leader Zack Polanski of fuelling “rising tensions” after the politician reshared a post on X which said: “Essentially his officers were repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head when he was already incapacitated by Taser.”
In the open letter published on social media, Rowley said he was “disappointed” that the politician had amplified “inaccurate and misinformed commentary” that “undermines officer confidence to act”.
The public spat comes days before the local elections, with commentators questioning whether Rowley’s letter breached regulations that prohibit police from engaging in political activity.
Rowley denied the letter to Polanski meant he was “intervening in politics”. “When somebody influential puts something out there which is incorrect and can undermine the confidence of my officers to protect Londoners, they need to see that I’m supporting them to give them that confidence to carry on and do their job,” he told Times Radio. “I’m not intervening in politics. He was intervening in operational policing and I need to defend my officers’ ability to do that.”
A Green party source said: “Zack has seen the video like everyone else, and doesn’t know the full picture and knows it was a very difficult situation for the authorities, but we do need to understand more about the response.”
In other news, police are assessing if nationwide marches can go ahead, as ministers are pressed on the time and details of the prime minister’s additional measures on protests.
Yesterday, Keir Starmer vowed to crack down on those “venerating the murder of Jews” at protest marches as the UK terror threat level was raised to “severe” in the wake of the Golders Green attack.
Rowley told broadcasters this morning that he was “concerned” about the scale of upcoming protests, and that his force was “looking hard at what conditions and powers we should use”, while justice minister Alex Davies-Jones claimed it was “a fact” that pro-Palestine marches had seen “antisemitic activity”.
