London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 29, 2025

No political pressure over Coronation protest arrests - Met officer

No political pressure over Coronation protest arrests - Met officer

The Metropolitan Police was not under political pressure to stop anti-monarchy protesters at the Coronation, a senior Met officer has told MPs.

Matt Twist, assistant commissioner, told the Home Affairs Select Committee that police had intel about disruption.

The force has been criticised for arresting six members of anti-monarchy group Republic and three women's safety volunteers.

Republic said it had "no intention" of causing disruption by protesting.

Mr Twist told MPs that the force had received intelligence there was going to be a "concerted attempt to disrupt the Coronation procession" on 6 May.

He added they had been so concerned they alerted Home Secretary Suella Braverman and London Mayor Sadiq Khan the night before the celebrations began.

Police were given extra powers shortly before the Coronation under a controversial new law, the Public Order Act 2023.

This resulted in protesters, including the chief executive of Republic, Graham Smith, being held in police custody for almost 16 hours, then bailed. They were later told that no further action would be taken against them.

The three women's safety volunteers who were arrested were also released without charge. Westminster City Council has said it asked for an apology from the police to the Night Star volunteers, who hand out rape alarms.

Mr Twist was asked by committee chairwoman Diana Johnson whether he felt any political pressure to make arrests during the Coronation.

He responded he only "felt pressure to deliver a safe and secure operation, but that was because of the fact that it was a once-in-a-lifetime event for so many people".

He added it was the biggest protection operation the Met has run, with 312 protected people that they had to get in and out of the Abbey in about 90 minutes.

"So the stakes were enormously high, so I absolutely felt pressure to deliver a safe and secure operation. But that wasn't political pressure," Mr Twist said.

The hearing was briefly interrupted by Just Stop Oil activists who were sat behind Mr Twist wearing white t-shirts with the name of their group written in large letters.

Voices could be heard in the chamber along with people groaning and asking for security to intervene, while eight Just Stop Oil members were also arrested in Parliament Square.


When the hearing resumed following the brief interruption, Mr Twist told the committee that police believed the threat to the Coronation was real.

He added they had had short notice between the act getting Royal Assent and the police being informed. However, he believed officers knew what they had to do on the day.

Anti-monarchy protester Matt Turnbull told the committee police officers were interested in some luggage straps that Republic were using to hold their placards together.

Mr Smith added his group had brought 600 placards in their van, which explains why they needed trolleys and the straps.

Mr Twist said arrests were made after officers found 12 heavy duty straps with combination locks in sealed plastic bags.

Tim Loughton, Conservative MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, asked Mr Twist if he had seen luggage straps with combination locks used to lock on protest signs.

Suzie Melvin described being arrested during the Coronation weekend


He said he hadn't, but that didn't mean it didn't happen.

Suzie Melvin, who volunteers for the Night Stars safety scheme and was arrested during the Coronation weekend, also spoke to MPs.

She described how the team were wearing hi-vis jackets "with the Metropolitan Police logo" due to their partnership with the force,and backpacks in the early hours of the Saturday morning on the Coronation weekend.

As they approached Soho Square in central London, officers looked through their bags and they were arrested and taken into police custody, despite them showing emails and leaflets from Westminster City Council and the Night Stars website, she said.

Ms Melvin stated the arresting police officer told her they were "specifically looking" for people from her organisation. She believed it could have been linked to volunteers carrying rape alarms, part of an "anti-spiking kit" they hand out to people enjoying a night out.

The Met previously said it had "received intelligence" people "were planning to use rape alarms to disrupt the procession".

Ms Melvin was released the day after the Coronation.

This led committee chairwoman Dame Diana Johnson to reply: "I am speechless."

Meanwhile, a complaint has also been lodged by royal fanAlice Chambers, 36, who was held in custody for 13 hoursafter she was mistaken for a Just Stop Oil protester while waiting in the Mall to see the King.The Metropolitan Police have said it regrets she was not able to watch the Coronation. She was released with no further action.

A total of 64 arrests were made during the policing operation for the Coronation, the Met said.

The police said 52 of those were related to concerns people were going to disrupt the event.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
China and Russia Deploy Seductive Espionage Networks to Infiltrate U.S. Tech Sector
Apple’s ‘iPhone Air’ Collapses After One Month — Another Major Misstep for the Tech Giant
Graham Potter Begins New Chapter as Sweden Head Coach on Short-Term Deal
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Alleges Poison Plot via Chocolate and Jam
Lakestar to Halt External Fundraising as Investor in Revolut and Spotify
U.S. Innovation Ranking Under Scrutiny as China Leads Output Outputs but Ranks 10th
Three Men Arrested in London on Suspicion of Spying for Russia
Porsche Reverses EV Strategy as New CEO Bets on Petrol and Hybrids
Singapore’s Prime Minister Warns of ‘Messy’ Transition to Post-American Global Order
Andreessen Horowitz Sets Sights on Ten-Billion-Dollar Fund for Tech Surge
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
×