Labour councillor who called for racist demonstrators' throats to be cut is arrested

Labour councillor calls for far-right protesters' throats to be 'cut' in video at rally. Video from Actual Coverage.

A Labour councillor has been arrested on suspicion of encouraging murder after a video emerged of him saying far-right protesters should have their throats “cut”.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: "Officers have arrested a man aged in his 50s at an address in South East London."He was held on suspicion of encouraging murder and for an offence under the Public Order Act."He is in custody at a south London police station. "

Ricky Jones, a borough councillor in Dartford, Kent, reportedly made the statement while at a counter-protest in Walthamstow, east London, on Wednesday evening.

A video at the event shows him taking part, who was filmed saying: “They are disgusting Nazi fascists and we need to cut all their throats and get rid of them all.”

A Labour spokesperson said the violent imagery was “completely unacceptable and it will not be tolerated”.

Nigel Farage and several online commentators have alleged the police and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer are dealing with some protesters more harshly than others - known as two-tier policing.

Sir Mark Rowley, who leads the Met in London, has previously rejected accusations of two-tier policing as “complete nonsense”.

He said on Wednesday: “We have commentators from either end of the political spectrum who like to throw accusations of bias at the police because we stand in the middle, we operate independently under the law without fear or favour.”

Last night, violence was expected across London but crowds of counter-protesters far out numbered any far right groups across the capital.

There were around 8,000 people at the protest in Walthamstow against the far right, according to the charity 'Stand Up to Racism'.

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