Nigel Farage slams Hertfordshire police for 'take the knee' advice to officers

Hertfordshire police have responded to criticism from Nigel Farage and others about alleged advice to officers on "taking the knee" at Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests.

The Brexit Party leader and former UKIP leader used Twitter to tell his 1.6 million followers that the constabulary's guidance was "a total surrender to anarchy, Marxism and an organisation that wants them abolished".

He added that the confidential directive's contents were "insanity mixed with cowardice".

It is claimed that as part of its guidance for Operation Velour – the force's response to Black Lives Matter demonstrations – officers are told that "taking the knee" is optional, but those who do not are warned they may become the focus of activists.

According to national media, the briefing says: "This has a very positive and engaging effect, and when taken by officers has a positive reaction on the protest groups."

In Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, African American George Floyd died while being arrested by police for allegedly using counterfeit money to buy cigarettes. White police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Protests in response to his death, and more broadly to police violence against black people, quickly spread across the United States and internationally. People have been kneeling in silence to honour his memory and show solidarity with the anti-racist Black Lives Matter movement.

The gesture has its origins in American football, and the campaign started by quarterback and civil rights campaigner Colin Kaepernick has become synonymous with BLM.

A spokeswoman for the police said: "Hertfordshire Constabulary is aware of the social media circulation of a document purporting to be from its internal confidential briefing system.

"Whilst as a matter of policy the force does not comment on leaked documents, we are clear that officers working at events involving the Black Lives Matters movement are free to demonstrate their personal support by 'taking the knee' should they wish to do so.

"Whilst this position has been made clear to officers and staff, the force has not sought to either encourage or discourage this action, which remains a matter of personal choice.

"An investigation has been launched into the leaking of the document."

Former East Herts district councillor for Braughing Ben Harris-Quinney, chairman of the Bow Group Conservative think tank, was one of those who retweeted Mr Farage's criticism of the constabulary.

He said: "This is a disgrace from Herts police. The complete opposite of what Hertfordshire residents want and expect. This isn't community policing, it's top-down woke nonsense that even the Met Police have abandoned."

The force is under fire for how it handled a Black Lives Matter protest and counter-protest by far-right supporters in Hoddesdon last week.

Cllr Colin Woodward, Herts county councillor for Bishop's Stortford West, who serves on the authority's police and crime committee, said he had sought clarification from Herts Police and Crime Commissioner David Lloyd on the press reports.

In a statement to the Indie, Mr Lloyd said: "The chief constable [Charlie Hall] has full operational responsibility for the policing of demonstrations in Hertfordshire and I continue to have every confidence in his ability to do so.

“He has assured me that it is not true to suggest that he has urged his officers to 'take the knee' during demonstrations, and I understand that he has taken steps to correct misrepresentations of his position which have appeared in the national press.”