G20 London Summit QandA Pack

KEY MESSAGES

• Metropolitan Police hugely experienced at policing public order events. Police have been planning for this event for a number of months with partners and Government. Confident that their operational planning will manage public order threats and risks.

• Home Secretary has received regular updates from the MPS and is fully confident in the steps the Metropolitan Police Service are taking to manage security for the Summit, to assess and address any threats to public order, and to meet London's' wider policing needs - including the international at Wembley

• Will support Metropolitan Police in helping their planning (as appropriate) and we will ensure that police operations are fully linked up to event planning.

• Police are committed to facilitating peaceful protest and are working with protest groups towards this end.

• Violence and intimidation cannot be tolerated. The police will act very quickly if there's any threat to property or people.

• Threat assessment for G20 to be read in mind of overall Threat Level to the UK.

• Understand the demands this puts on Met Police. Home Office Ministers will consider any requests sympathetically and will make a contribution towards reasonable additional costs

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• Home Secretary will issue authorisations for overseas armed protection officers on a case-by-case basis under existing practice and only if recommended by the police.

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Protest

How many police will work on the Summit?

• From 24 March until 3rd April the police will fill at least 10,500 officer shifts - the peak days of which will be the 1 and 2 April. In the region of 3,500 will be on 2 April - but this operation covers more than just the Excel centre.

Will there be any police left to cover the rest of London?

• Yes. Part of the Met's planning has been to ensure that the rest of London is policed.

Are the expected protests at the G20 summit the start of the expected "summer of rage" against the current economic problems which were recently highlighted by a senior officer in the Metropolitan Police?

Does the Government now expect a new wave of protests about economic and environmental issues to hit the country?

• The Metropolitan Police looks at world events and assesses all information in the public domain to make an assessment for the potential for disorder in London associated with protest. At the current time they possess no information relating to a wave of potentially violent mass protests.

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• However the London Summit will bring a number of protest groups together simultaneously and plans are in place to police the large number of events over 1 and 2 April

Do you not think that briefings from the Metropolitan Police Service are inciting the protestors?

• The police are very clear that they will facilitate lawful protest.

That is embedded within the policing strategy.

• The march at the weekend demonstrated how police and protestors can work closely together to achieve a peaceful protest.

Can you envisage the large financial institutions in London being targeted by activists similar to the J18 protests in 1999?

• There are certain protest groups who have always attempted to target their demonstrations against things deemed by them to be part of the state establishment which includes financial institutions.

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• Police contingency planning has taken place for the full range of

disruptive challenges

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The recent JCHR Report condemns the Government's record on protests. What will you do to ensure lawful protest is facilitated?

• The Government welcomes JCHR's report on this very important area and will carefully consider all the Committee's Recommendations and provide a comprehensive response. The Committee found no systematic human rights abuses in the policing of protest. Government is fully committed to protecting and facilitating the right to peaceful protest.

Given the heavy-handed policing of Kingsnorth, what guarantee can you provide that this won't happen again?

• The police have been very clear at all their briefings that they will facilitate lawful protest. That is embedded within the Gold strategy.

• The march at the weekend demonstrated how police and protestors can work closely together to achieve a peaceful protest.

• The Government is committed to upholding the right to peaceful protest and we take the concerns raised about Kingsnorth very seriously indeed. We are working with National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) and ACPO to ensure that Kent police and the police service as a whole learn lessons from policing of Kingsnorth.

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Government did not give police enough notice for the Summit?

• Metropolitan Police hugely experienced at policing public order events. Their policing plans are well-advanced and I am confident that their operational planning will manage public order threats and risks.

Can you guarantee that journalists will not be stopped from covering protest activity? -

• People have the right to take photographs in public places and we will do everything we can to uphold that right.

• Whilst taking a photograph of a police may potentially fall within the scope of new offences in Terrorism Act 2008, it might only do so in a very limited set of circumstances. For example, where someone provides a person with photographs of the houses and cars, names and addresses and details of car

registraion numbers of persons in the protected groups. It does not criminalise the normal taking of photographs of the poJice.

• Police officers have the discretion to ask people not to take photographs for public safety or security reasons but the taking of photographs in a public place is not subject to any rules or statute.

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Funding

What are the Government estimated costs for G20? How can you justify costs in the current tough economic climate?

• Our current estimate is that the Summit will cost around £19m.

This includes the venue, and event security / policing.

• Costs will be found from within existing departmental and police budgets. Proper procurement processes have been followed to ensure value for money.

• The London Summit is an investment in bringing world leaders together to co-ordinate global action to restore stability, growth and jobs. If action agreed at the Summit adds just 0.1 % to economic growth, this would be worth over £ 1 billion to the UK this year alone, and over $50 billion globally.

What's the policing cost?

• Estimated cost for policing as of Friday 20 March stood at £7.2 million opportunity costs of which nearly £3 million are real costs. This is anticipated to rise as plans develop .:

Can you provide guarantees that the Metropolitan Police will be recompensed for policing the event?

• Understand the demands this puts on Met Police. Home Office Ministers will consider any requests sympathetically and will make a contribution towards reasonable additional costs.

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Security

Will protection be provided for attendees of the Summit?

• Personal protection will be provided as appropriate. It is a long established policy not to comment upon matters of personal protective .security. Disclosure of such information could compromise the integrity of those arrangements and affect the security of the individuals concerned.

Will foreign armed protection officers be deployed?

• Home Secretary will issue authorisations for overseas armed protection officers on a case-by-case basis under existing practice and only if recommended by the police.

Will the police use counter terrorism powers to police demonstrations at the Summit?

• Any use of counter terrorism powers must be appropriate and proportionate and only used where a terrorist threat exists .

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• The police have a duty to facilitate peaceful protest. They also

have a duty to preserve the peace, to uphold the law and to prevent the commission of offences. They will police G20 accordingly and have the powers they need to ensure the safety of the public and all those attending the event, as well as to minimise disruption.

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Provide some assurances that the police will not use threats to security to clamp down on lawful protest?

• The police have a duty to facilitate peaceful protest but also have a duty to preserve the peace, to uphold the law and to prevent the commission of offences. Police tactics and decisions on how to achieve these objectives are a matter for the independent judgement of the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.

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KEY FACTS

CORE BACKGROUND

Public Order

• Commander Bob Broadhurst is the Gold Commander for G20 and is overseeing the Metropolitan Police strategy for the event.

• All events planned around the 1 and 2 April will fall under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Police, who will be supported by British Transport Police, City of London Police and regional forces serving Stansted, City of London, Gatwick and Luton airports (for arrivals and departures).

• The policing operation started on 27 March and builds to 2 April involving over 5,000 police officers. Police plans cover the following events:

A TUC March in Central London on 28 March

with several thousand anticipated.

April Fuels Day (Climate Change Protest) Financial Fools Day (Anti-Capitalist Protest) A Stop the War march in Central London on 1

April

More extreme protest groups are expected to mobilise on this day to disrupt London

Marches to Excel Centre on day of the event by protest groups including Free Tibet

• The Public Order Unit in the Home Office has arranged to co-ordinate Home Office efforts. A Cabinet Office grotlp is being chaired by Tony McNulty MP to ensure cross-Whitehall and police link up.

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Powers under the Terrorism Act 2000

• The Terrorism Act 2000 includes a number of specific counter terrorism powers, including powers of arrest, parking restriction, and stop and search. An authorisation under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 gives the police power to stop and search pedestrians, vehicles, drivers and passengers for the purposes of preventing terrorism.

• Searches under section 44, whether of vehicles or pedestrians, may be carried out only-for the purpose of looking for articles of a kind which may be used in connection with terrorism. However, a search may be carried out whether or not a police officer has grounds for suspecting the presence of any such articles.

• Authorisations are made by an officer of ACPO rank, and can only be given if he considers it "expedient for the prevention of acts of terrorism". The police have also applied to the relevant local authorities for Anti-terrorism Traffic Regulation Orders under the Road Traffic Regulation Act.

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G20 Finance

3. Home Secretary met with Commissioner on 18 March and

provided reassurance that Home Office would provide some support to Metropolitan Police. Current forecast is £7.2m and rising though of which £3m are 'additional costs'. Police Finance Unit currently working to identify ways of helping Met on costs incurred to date and would work with HMIC on assessing detailed costs shortly after the event.

Police Finance Unit met MPA Treasurer on Wednesday 25th March to discuss further. Costs now submitted and beign considered

Essex and Sussex have also bid for funding to support policing of Arrivals at Stansted and Finance Ministers meetings respectively.

The Right to Protest

4. People have a right to be free to carry out their lawful business

without fear of intimidation and violence. Equally, it is a longstanding tradition in this country that people are free to gather together and to demonstrate their views provided that they do so within the law. There is, of course, a balance to be struck between protecting the rights of those undertaking lawful activities and local communities and the rights of demonstrators. The role of the police in controlling demonstrations is to preserve the peace, to uphold the law and to prevent the commission of offences. Police tactics and decisions on how to achieve these objectives are a matter for the independent judgement of chief officers of police, in this case the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. The police have worked with local businesses and protest organisations to achieve these alms.

Violent activity cannot be regarded as a legitimate form of protest and the police and the courts have the powers they need to deal with those who engage in such activities. The Public Order Act

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1986 gives the police powers to act in respect of a range of criminal offences relating to public disorder.

Police forces do not have a separate (or different) policy for policing different protests. The policing of each incident is decided according to individual circumstances at the time having taken into account the known information and any related intelligence.

Public Order Legislation

5. The policing of outbreaks of disorder is a matter for chief

officers of police. The role of the police in controlling any outbreaks of disorder is to preserve the peace, to uphold the law and to prevent the commission of offences.

There are powers available to the police under the Public Order Act 1986 to enable the police with a wide range of public order offences:

i) under section 1 there is the offence of riot where a group of twelve or more people use or threaten unlawful violence;

ii) under section 2 there is the offence of violent disorder where a group of three or more people use or threaten unlawful violence;

iii) under section 3, there is the offence of affray where a person uses or threatens unlawful violence towards another;

iv) under section 4 it is an offence intentionally to behave in a way which causes someone to believe that immediate violence will be used against him, or to provoke the use of violence;

v) under section 4A it is an offence intentionally to behave in a way which is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress;

vi) under section 5 it is an offence to behave in a way which is likely to cause harassment alarm or distress, even when no intent is involved.

Under section 12 of the Public Order Act 1986 a senior police officer may impose conditions upon the organisers of a march if he

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reasonably believes that the march may result in serious disorder, damage to property or disruption to the life of the community; or if the purpose of the march is the intimidation of others with a view to compelling them to commit unlawful acts.

Section 13 enables a chief officer of police to apply to the district council for them, with the consent of the Secretary of State, to make an order prohibiting a procession from taking place if he reasonably believes that the powers under section 12 will not be sufficient to prevent serious public disorder.

Under section 140f the 1986 Act a senior police officer may impose conditions on a public assembly if he reasonably believes that serious public disorder, serious damage to property or serious disruption to the life of the community might result or if he believes that the purpose of the demonstration is to coerce

In all cases, the question of whether to impose conditions or to seek a ban is for the police.

Under common law, if the police reasonably expect an imminent breach of the peace they may take any action which is necessary to control and prevent it, including arresting those who are responsible. The police may disperse people in order to prevent a breach of the peace. They may also bring anyone arrested for a breach of the peace before the courts to be bound over to keep the peace and to be of good behaviour. Failure to comply can result in up to six months imprisonment.

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