Police Federation: No comment on inflammatory language
National chair of the Police Federation Steve Hartshorn says it’s not for him to comment on “potentially inflammatory comments or rhetoric that isn’t helpful” after Suella Braverman accused the Metropolitan police of political bias. Mr Hartshorn adds that the job of a police officer is to “facilitate lawful protests” and not get drawn in to “party politics.”
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Report by Rowlandi. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
Transcript
00:00 It's not for me to comment on what others are saying or potentially inflammatory comments
00:03 or rhetoric that isn't helpful.
00:05 For me, my job is to make sure that my members can police properly, effectively.
00:09 I hear what the Commissioner says around if there's no legal power to prevent any kind
00:13 of protest taking place.
00:14 I have to alarm that.
00:15 They have far more information than I do around the legality of it and again it's about doing
00:19 it properly.
00:20 If intelligence comes in between now and then, I'm sure action can be taken but it's about
00:24 facilitating what is at the moment a lawful protest.
00:27 It's very easy to get drawn into party politics which, that's not my job, it's not the job
00:31 of police officers.
00:32 We're there to facilitate lawful protest to make sure that events on Saturday and Sunday
00:36 go off peacefully and it's a big call out to anybody who's attending.
00:39 Be vigilant, be calm, let's get everybody home safely but let's get the message out
00:43 there so we can resolve some of the situations safely and effectively for everybody.