Planned War Memorial Murder Questioned

Labor ministers at the Home Office are now considering which elements of the old legislation to include in their new draft crime and policing bill, due to be unveiled in the first half of 2025.

A Home Office insider denied that ministers had accepted officials’ advice to scrap the plan for a stand-alone public order offense for war memorial vandalism.

Mrs. Diana Johnsonthe police minister, is said to have told officials in a private meeting last month that he wanted to keep the change. Ultimately, ministers, not civil servants, decide government policy.

The source added that the matter has not yet arrived Yvette Cooperthe interior minister, who would have the final call on the move.

A Whitehall source said of the current internal debate: “There is a feeling among officials that some of the measures are unnecessary. You can deal with different sections of existing legislation.”

Officials are understood to have expressed opposition during Mr Cleverly’s initial interest in the policy before it was announced, but their concerns were dismissed.

But advocates within the government argue that having a certain public offense could act as a strong deterrent.

Chief Constable BJ Harrington, head of the National Police Chiefs’ Council for Public Order, welcomed the changes when the Conservative government announced them in February.

Mr Harrington said at the time: “We welcome the proposal to create new offenses relating to war memorials and eruptions, as well as making it clear that covering your face at a protest to hide your identity is not acceptable.

“These changes are consistent with conversations we have had with the Home Office to ensure we have the powers we need to strike the right balance between the rights of those who wish to protest and those affected by them.”

Measures to crack down on the use of face masks and lightning bolts are understood to have been held up in early discussions about the crime and policing law.