Thousands at Remembrance Day parade after day of ‘extreme violence’ at Cenotaph

Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf has called for Suella Braverman to be sacked and not allowed to resign.

Speaking to journalists as he arrived at Remembrance Day commemorations in Edinburgh, the First Minister accused the Home Secretary of “fanning the flames of division”.

Mr Yousaf said: “The result of that, of course, is, as we saw, individuals on the far right actively attacking the police.

“I’m afraid that the Home Secretary’s position, in my view, is untenable.

“She should not even be allowed to resign, she should just be sacked by the Prime Minister because no Home Secretary should be fanning the flames of division – quite the opposite.”

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Suella Braverman said she would be paying her respects to “our fallen heroes” today at the Cenotaph.

The home secretary posted on X: “This morning I will be attending the National Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph, paying my respects to our fallen heroes.

“We must honour them and the veterans who survive for the sacrifices they made so that we may live safe and free.”

Ms Braverman did not make any mention of the far-right clashes with police on Armistice Day, which the likes of Sir Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper have attributed to the home secretary’s incendiary rhetoric leading up to the pro-Palestine march on Saturday.

Wreaths will be laid by members of the royal family, senior politicians and dignitaries at the Whitehall memorial, where a major policing operation remains in place after 126 arrests – mostly far-right counter-protesters – as a pro-Palestinian march was held on Armistice Day.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has pushed back against suggestions Suella Braverman emboldened far-right protesters who caused trouble in London on Armistice Day, saying it had “nothing to do with” her inflammatory article.

He told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme: “It is the case that some people just turned up determined – by the way, nothing to do with what the Home Secretary said in terms of having already said they would be here doing these things – to disrupt things here at the Cenotaph.”

He also said: “This counter-protest was already going to happen.”

Yvette Cooper said she was “shocked” that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak did not thank the police for their handling of Armistice Day protests in his statement, particularly after Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s “appalling and unprecedented attack” on police.

Labour’s shadow home secretary told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “I was just shocked that there wasn’t a word of thanks for the police in there, in the statement.

“We saw police under attack, having missiles thrown at them and having to deal with people who were trying to climb over fences, climbing onto walls to try and get to the Cenotaph. The police made sure that they didn’t. And we should thank them for that.

“This comes when the Home Secretary launched this really appalling and unprecedented attack on the police, on both their operational independence and also on their impartiality. I’ve never seen any Home Secretary do what Suella Braverman did. And there’s good reason for that – the events that we saw yesterday, around the Armistice, those are the reasons why no Home Secretary has ever done anything like this before. It was irresponsible.

“So, I think especially in that context it’s really important for the Prime Minister to thank the police for what they’ve done.”

Suella Braverman cannot stay in her job, but the Home Secretary’s fate is now up to the Prime Minister, Yvette Cooper has said.

The shadow home secretary told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: “Suella Braverman decided to launch an unprecedented attack on the impartiality of the police and also to deliberately inflame tensions in the run-up to remembrance weekend.

“No home secretary has ever done that before. Her job is supposed to be to support the police and to work with the police, and also to calm community tensions. She did the opposite, and she did the opposite in a really damaging and irresponsible way.”

Pressed about whether the Home Secretary should resign, Ms Cooper said: “I don’t see how she can continue to do this job, she does not have the credibility or the authority to do the serious job of Home Secretary.”

She added: “I think this is a matter for Rishi Sunak, I think he needs to deal with this.

“I think he appointed her and he needs to do something about it, because otherwise all that he shows is he is weak, he doesn’t care about policing and he doesn’t care about the security of our country.”

Missiles and a metal crowd-control barrier were thrown at police as counter-demonstrators stormed officers trying to control crowds at a Remembrance event at the Cenotaph on Saturday afternoon.

And a man was arrested on suspicion of possessing a weapon during earlier skirmishes in Chinatown where English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson was seen leading a crowd of far-right activists.