Our friends at Netpol have recently launched “End Zero Accountability”, a campaign building public pressure to challenge the Met’s misuse of police powers that is repressing our right to protest. Although the Metropolitan Police are institutionally racist and systematically resistant to accountability and transparency, the campaign’s aim is to make ending zero accountability an issue the London Assembly is forced to address.
It is most effective to craft your own email when contacting London Assembly members, instead of a template email. However, some key points you can use in your email are as follows:
- There were 162 instances of restrictions on either processions (protest marches) or assemblies (static protests) in 2024-2025. Despite promises from former Policing Minister Chris Philp in 2023 to release the full data of these restrictions, the Home Office has chosen not to. Releasing this data is one of the campaign demands.
- 100% of the restrictions on processions or assemblies took place in London
- 25 of the 30 processions that had restrictions imposed on them were categorised as “international” – although the Home Office refuses to release the full data, it is overwhelmingly likely that these were marches for Palestine
- The Met carried out 92% of the arrests – making it over four times more likely than any other police force across England and Wales to carry out arrests under these powers.
- Although demographic data is sparse, where the data is available, it shows that non-white groups appear to be disproportionately represented in the arrests.
You can also read Netpol’s full list of suggested points to raise here, as well as Netpol’s analysis of the most recent Home Office data on protest restrictions here.
