Mark Harper distanced himself from his Cabinet colleague Suella Braverman this morning after she accused the police of “playing favourites” with protesters. 

The Transport Secretary would not say if he agreed with the Home Secretary’s remarks after she also claimed the Metropolitan Police employed a “double standard” by taking a softer approach towards “pro-Palestinian mobs” than right-wing and nationalist protesters.

Asked if he agreed that the police “play favourites”, Mr Harper told Times Radio: “I am not going to indulge in textual analysis of her article. You set out what she said. I am going to talk about what we have all been doing.”

Ms Braverman’s comments in a piece for The Times have ignited a political firestorm and come after Rishi Sunak accepted that a pro-Palestinian march in central London on Armistice Day will go ahead. 

The Prime Minister hauled Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley into No10 yesterday afternoon to seek assurances about public safety this weekend. Mr Sunak said he will hold Sir Mark “accountable” if there is trouble. 

Senior Tories had called for the march to be blocked but Sir Mark said the threshold to apply to ban the rally due to a risk of serious disorder had not been met. 

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