Gary Lineker has backed pro-Palestinian protesters planning to march through London on Armistice Day.

Replying to a post on X, formerly Twitter, by Suella Braverman that warned the event would be a “hate march”, the BBC presenter said: “Marching and calling for a ceasefire and peace so that more innocent children don’t get killed is not really the definition of a hate march.”

Earlier on the Friday Prime Minister called the protest planned for Nov 11 “disrespectful”.

In a statement Rishi Sunak said: “To plan protests on Armistice Day is provocative and disrespectful, and there is a clear and present risk that the Cenotaph and other war memorials could be desecrated, something that would be an affront to the British Public and the values we stand for.”

He added: “The right to remember, in peace and dignity, those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for those freedoms must be protected.

“I have asked the Home Secretary to support the Met Police in doing everything necessary to protect the sanctity of Armistice Day and Remebrance Sunday.”

Robert Jenrick, immigration minister, backed the Prime Minister’s assessment and said: “Armistice Day is sacrosanct. These disrespectful and often hate-filled marches, routinely intimidating our fellow citizens, must not be permitted to demean our national moments of remembrance.”

Security minister Tom Tugendhat has written to the Mayor of London, Westminster Council and the Metropolitan Police, “asking them to look very carefully at the powers that they have and to consider what options they have available”.

This is a breaking news story.