The assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan police has stated that arrests at large demonstrations, such as those led by pro-Palestine and environmental organisations, will likely happen more swiftly in the future. Additionally, Matt Twist implied that throughout the previous year, the force had not handled protests "everything right."

Since October of last year, the capital has witnessed many large-scale rallies, some of which have attracted hundreds of thousands of people to central London. Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil, and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), which is advocating for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, were among the groups holding demonstrations.
In May, Twist discussed protest policing in an interview with the right-wing think tank Policy Exchange, just before nationwide far-right riots following the July Southport attacks. Now, the think tank has produced a fresh paper along with his remarks. Twist, who oversees public order and protest police in all of London, stated: "When we reflect on the protest policing that has taken place over the last eight months, we realise that we didn't get everything right – particularly in the early stages in October.

“On occasion we did not move quickly to make arrests … We are now much more focused on identifying reasonable grounds for arrest, acting where needed, and then investigating, so in these circumstances it’s very likely arrests would be made more quickly now.”

Twist said that while the number of demonstrators had fallen significantly – from a peak of about 300,000 people at pro-Palestinian events every fortnight last November to about 5,000 to 10,000 people every third weekend by May – the protests still represented a “very real policing challenge”.

On the topic of “two-tier” policing, a theory falsely claiming that police treat white people taking part in disorder more harshly than minority groups, Twist said: “In public order policing, we are neutral as to the cause that is being protested. We base policing tactics on the threat, harm and risk based on the information and intelligence available to us.

“In that sense, there is no such thing as two-tier or differential policing – there are in fact an infinite number of tiers of policing, depending on the threat, harm and risk.”

Twist’s comments were released in conjunction with a new report published by Policy Exchange, which is co-founded by Michael Gove. It estimates that Palestine-related protests in London have cost the Met £42.9m. In January, shortly after the largest pro-Palestine demonstrations in the capital had taken place, the Met said it had spend £26.5m on protests related to the conflict in Gaza.

As part of the report, a nationwide poll of more than 1,500 adults was conducted, which found that more than two-thirds of respondents would drop plans to travel with small children (71%) or an elderly or mobility-impaired friend or relative (69%) if a major protest was taking place in a nearby city or town centre.

Of those surveyed, 62% said they would drop plans to visit a tourist attraction, while 58% would abandon plans to go shopping.

Pro-Palestine protests in the UK have been largely peaceful. In February, the independent media platform openDemocracy reported that 36 people who attended pro-Palestine rallies last year had been charged with an offence, and that the arrest rate at these marches was lower than at the most recent Glastonbury music festival.

The report was supported by former Met commissioner Lord Hogan-Howe QPM. "Policing protest has become more difficult in recent years for police commanders and officers on the ground," he stated.

"As demonstrated by this comprehensive and timely Policy Exchange report, the government needs to rebalance the legal system to support regular people going about their daily lives."