THE Cenotaph war memorial will be kept under a 24-hour police guard for the first time during this weekend’s remembrance commemorations as Rishi Sunak appealed for calm.
The Prime Minister last night urged everyone to “stand together in quiet reflection” and said the weekend should be about “the selfless bravery of our armed forces”.
However, the police yesterday warned that “pockets of confrontation” are expected with extreme right-wing groups planning to square up to pro-Palestine demonstrators in central London.
Meanwhile, veterans were advised by military officials not to wear their medals or berets when they travel to Remembrance services today to honour the 1.3million servicemen and women killed in action since 1914.
Police will be trying to keep the factions away from each other, with Met deputy assistant commissioner Laurence Taylor saying: “I do believe that if the groups come together there will be serious disorder.”
More than 1,000 cops are being drafted in from across the country to assist the 2,000 Met officers at today’s Armistice Day march and tomorrow’s Remembrance Sunday event in Whitehall.
Mr Taylor, the Met’s strategic gold commander in charge of the massive policing operation, warned of a zero tolerance policy to troublemakers.
In contrast to previous weeks, he said anyone chanting “Jihad” could face arrest with action being taken later to round up hatemongers caught on camera.
Mr Taylor said it was the biggest police operation ever mounted for any remembrance event.
It is also the first time the national Cenotaph memorial in Whitehall has been placed under 24-hour police protection.
Steel barriers have been erected at the memorial and pro-Palestine protesters are banned from going anywhere near it until after tomorrow’s event.
It follows the defacing of the Cenotaph memorial in Rochdale on Tuesday night, when thugs sprayed “Free Palestine” on it.
Mr Taylor warned that any such attack on the Whitehall memorial will not be tolerated.
He said: “We will ensure that remembrance is not disrupted and respected.”
PM Mr Sunak was at Westminster Abbey’s Field of Remembrance with his wife Akshata Murty yesterday.
In an effort to calm tensions, he said: “This weekend people across the United Kingdom will stand together in quiet reflection to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
“Veterans, loved ones of those who gave their lives for their country and many more of us will want to honour this moment.
“This act of remembrance is fundamental to who we are as a country and I want to reassure those wishing to pay their respects, attend services and travel that they can and should do so.
“Following my meeting with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner earlier this week — and the Government’s engagement with police forces around the country —the police assure us they are taking all steps to ensure Remembrance services are safeguarded from any protests.
“Protests will only be permitted far away from Remembrance events, and the Cenotaph in Whitehall — the abiding symbol of Remembrance — has been placed in an exclusion zone and will be guarded around the clock to protect it for those travelling to pay their respects.
“We have also taken steps to ban a number of protests planned for train stations, which were only designed to disrupt and intimidate.
“It is because of those who fought for this country and for the freedom we cherish that those who wish to protest can do so, but they must do so respectfully and peacefully.
“Remembrance weekend is sacred for us all and should be a moment of unity, of our shared British values and of solemn reflection.
“Above all, this weekend should be about the selfless bravery of our armed forces.
“We shall remember them.”
Strict conditions have been applied to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign march taking place at 1pm from Park Lane to the US Embassy.
Protesters will not be allowed to deviate from the route and will be specifically excluded from the Whitehall area, where a large group of right-wing “defenders” are expected to be present.
Conditions exclude pro-Palestine demonstrators from going to large areas of the West End, including Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus after the march finishes by order at 5pm.
Specialist officers in cars and motorbikes will also track hate convoys feared to be planning to “pass through Jewish communities waving flags and shouting anti-Semitic abuse”.
Police will “intervene as they approach” to stop the convoys terrorising Jewish communities in and around London.
Police said their biggest fear is extremist elements converging to confront each other.
But Mr Taylor said officers will take “robust and agile” action against anyone breaching the law or strict pro-Palestine march conditions.
Well over 100,000 people are expected in London for today’s pro-Palestine march.
WORLD War Two veteran Private Harry Birdsall is the reason we need poppy sellers out in force on our streets.
Harry ferried Jewish survivors from the hell of Hitler’s concentration camps — and the horrors he witnessed at Belsen have haunted him for the rest of his life.
The 97-year-old hero has spent the last four years sleeping in a reclining chair because he was too frail to climb the stairs at his home.
But thanks to the Royal British Legion he can now sleep well.
Funds raised by its annual poppy appeal have paid for a stairlift and a hospital-style orthopaedic bed to be installed at his home in Wakefield, West Yorks.
Harry said: “I’ve spent four years sleeping in a chair in the lounge.
“The stairlift has changed my life.
“I can’t thank the RBL enough.
“My great nephew Tom donates to the RBL every month and made a call and the Legion came to see me.”
Son Nigel, 68, said: “This has been life-changing for Dad.
“Sleeping downstairs wasn’t good for his health.”
Harry was called up in 1944, age 18, just three months before the D-Day invasion.
He was given a job as a driver with the Royal Army Service Corps, ferrying supplies to the coast in preparation for the Normandy landings.
At the end of the war, he took part in Operation Barleycorn, driving Jewish survivors of Belsen concentration camp to Szczecin, Poland.
Harry said: “It was the worst experience of my life.
“Some were just tiny kids, skin hanging off them.
“It was terrible.
“I did three trips and we lost two or three people each time.
“It really affected me and still does today.
“I was having nightmares.”
