Ann Widdecombe sets out straightforward plan to stop Remembrance Day protests

Ann Widdecombe says she would block Remembrance Day protests

Ann Widdecombe insisted there would be no protests on Remembrance Day if she was in charge.

The former Conservative minister said a law should be introduced banning all marches on Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday.

Ms Widdecombe added that the focus of the two days should be solely on commemorating the nation’s war dead.

Her comments come amid controversy over a pro-Palestine rally in central London this Saturday.

Asked how she would deal with it, Ms Widdecombe told GB News: “Very straightforwardly. There wouldn’t be any marches this weekend.

“The Government have had time to do it. We should introduce a law that says that on Armistice Day and on Remembrance Sunday, if they are separate as they quite often are, on those two days there should be no marches in support of anything at all in central London, not even the causes that I believe in.

“No marches in favour of anything at all, because the only show in town should be the honouring of the dead and the honouring of veterans.

“That should be all that those days actually mean. It’s not asking much.

“There are 365 days in the year and people can demonstrate on 363 of them, but could they leave on this first day and Remembrance Sunday alone?”

Ms Widdecombe’s comments come amid tension ahead of the pro-Palestine rally tomorrow.

There are concerns that breakaway groups could look for trouble, while counter-demonstrations may add to policing difficulties.

Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley has faced intense pressure to ban Saturday’s protest but has said the law would only allow him to do so in “extreme cases”.

Meanwhile, Home Secretary Suella Braverman is battling to stay in her position after accusing the force of bias over protesters and branding it a “hate” march.

The planned route goes from Hyde Park – about a mile from the war memorial in Whitehall – to the US embassy in Vauxhall.

It is the fifth consecutive week of demonstrations demanding a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

A YouGov poll of 2,080 adults carried out on Tuesday and Wednesday found half of Brits said the protest should be banned this Saturday, while 34 percent said it should go ahead and 16 percent were unsure.

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