MET POLICE BANS FACE COVERINGS AT OCTOBER 7 ANNIVERSARY MARCH

The Metropolitan Police has imposed new conditions on a pro-Palestine march due to take place in London on Wednesday, marking three years since Hamas's October 7 attack. The conditions, which the force described as "robust", ban participants from wearing face coverings that conceal their identity. The march has been organised by a student group calling itself the University of London Coalition. The Met said it does not have grounds to ban the demonstration outright, but has repeated its request for organisers to call off the event. Anyone who breaches the conditions can be arrested, the force said.

Under the conditions, demonstrators must assemble at Lincoln's Inn Fields by 12.30pm and follow a prescribed route to Russell Square. The rally must conclude by 2pm, when participants are required to disperse. Other reporting identified the march's start and end points as King's College London in the Strand and University College London in Russell Square. Organisers posted on social media urging people to "take to the street and demand an end to the Palestinian genocide." Deputy Assistant Commissioner James Harman, who leads the Met's public order policing operations, said the anniversary "will be a day of mourning and reflection for many in London."

Harman acknowledged the "serious concerns" the event has caused for Jewish communities in particular, and renewed his call for those planning to join the march to "reflect on the impact and distress it will cause" and consider protesting on a different day. He said the force had received calls for the demonstration to be banned outright. The Met said the risk of serious disorder was not judged high enough to justify a ban on this occasion. The march was set to go ahead in London on Wednesday under the conditions imposed by the force.