Massive policing operation as two protests and FA Cup final coincide in London

A massive policing operation on a scale “unprecedented in recent years” is being planned as two protest marches and the FA Cup final take place in London on Saturday.

Thousands of officers will take to the streets, and armoured vehicles will be deployed along with police horses, dogs, drones, and helicopters as the Met aims to avoid clashes between groups of protesters.

Heavy restrictions have been put in place in a bid to keep the Unite the Kingdom and pro-Palestine Nakba Day rallies separate, with added concerns that some football fans will go straight from the FA Cup final to the Tommy Robinson event.

For the first time under official protest restrictions, organisers of the rallies will face prosecution as well as any speakers who break the law by using the events as a platform for extremism or hate speech.

Live facial recognition will be used for the first time in a policing operation around a protest, with cameras set up in a location in Camden that is not on the route of the Unite the Kingdom march, but is expected to be used by a lot of people attending the event.

There remain more than 50 outstanding and unidentified suspects after violent clashes between police and protesters at the previous Unite the Kingdom event in September.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner James Harman said the scale of the operation is “unprecedented in recent years” and will cost the force £4.5 million, £1.7 million of which is to bring in officers from other forces to boost numbers.

Around 4,000 officers are expected to be on duty on Saturday, with 660 being drafted in from forces outside the Met.

Mr Harman said: “We are policing two significant and potentially challenging protests in the centre of London, as well as the