LONDON: The organizer of London鈥檚 Armistice Day event at the Cenotaph has expressed support for Saturday鈥檚 pro-Palestine march, saying that his charity 鈥渂elieves in free speech.鈥�

The Metropolitan Police have confirmed that the march will proceed 鈥� despite fears that it could spark counter-protests by right-wing extremists 鈥� because the "evidence threshold鈥� to prohibit it has not been met.

Richard Hughes, legal trustee of the Western Front Association, told The Guardian: 鈥淚 think a lot of people are trying to whip this up.鈥�

Hughes, who is in charge of organizing the annual commemoration for First World War casualties, added: 鈥淭he police are not going to let anyone near the Cenotaph. We are a democratic organization that commemorates those who fought for democracy, so free speech is important.鈥�

UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Justice Secretary Alex Chalk have both said that they do not believe Saturday鈥檚 march should go ahead due to a 鈥渞isk鈥� of remembrance events being disrupted or the Cenotaph being defaced.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday that he accepted the march would take place, but that it was 鈥渄isrespectful鈥� and 鈥渙ffends our heartfelt gratitude to those who gave so much so that we may live in freedom and peace today,鈥� The Guardian reported.

Hughes said that while he recognized that the pro-Palestine march would put additional strain on police resources and that opinions among Western Front Association members would differ, 鈥淚 would hope that the two events could coexist without touching 鈥� If I was at one of those demonstrations I might say, 鈥楾hey can do their stuff and we will do our stuff.鈥�

鈥淪ome of the older members might think that it is not appropriate (to protest on Armistice Day) but it is very hard to be blind to what is going on in the Middle East.鈥�

Hughes said that security around the commemoration had increased in recent years, but he trusted the Met police commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, to prevent any major disruption on Saturday.

On Wednesday, Winston Churchill鈥檚 grandson, Lord Soames, said that the pro-Palestinian march on Armistice Day must be allowed to go ahead.

鈥淎 lot of people died during the war to assert freedom,鈥� the former armed forces minister told LBC.

He added: 鈥淚t鈥檚 nowhere near the Cenotaph. It鈥檚 in the afternoon and most of these people, 90 percent of those people, are not there to make trouble.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e there to express a deeply held view. And I think it must be allowed to go ahead, and I think it would be a great mistake to play politics with it.鈥�

Lord Soames expressed his disagreement with Suella Braverman鈥檚 description of pro-Palestine protests as 鈥渉ate marches,鈥� adding: 鈥淭he previous demonstrations have been pretty good, really. I mean, there鈥檚 been a few arrests, but for the scale of people鈥�

鈥淚 think they are not hate marches, and why would you say such a thing? I don鈥檛 get it ... it is polarizing, and we live in a country that needs all the non-polarization it can get.鈥�