Concerns over Israel-Palestine protests after pensioner 'punched'

Veterans’ affairs minister Johnny Mercer has urged former military personnel not to join protests and stressed that the route of the march was not due to go near the Cenotaph in Whitehall.

Mr Mercer said he had spent the weekend “dissuading various veterans groups from organising marches or protests this Saturday”.

But he urged police to protect veterans marking the Armistice or Remembrance Sunday.

“I have particular concern towards our elderly veterans for whom travelling to London once a year is an important part of their remembrance, and have expressed genuine fears to me around their ability to travel to London, particularly through our rail stations, unmolested,” he said.

His comments come after 78-year-old poppy seller Jim Henderson was allegedly punched at Waverley Station in Edinburgh during a pro-Palestinian rally, an incident described as “repulsive” by Downing Street.