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A proposal by a UK government adviser that organisers of marches should pay for the cost of policing them has been condemned as an assault on the democratic right to protest.
Large pro-Palestine marches have taken place in London on most Saturdays since the attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel.
The marches have been policed by more than 1,000 officers on each occasion.
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist recently told MPs that £17 million ($21 million) had been spent on policing the pro-Palestinian protests between October 7 and December 8.
Lord Walney, who was asked by the government to carry out a review of political violence and disruption before the war in Gaza, has now said the march organisers should be made to pay the cost of policing.
The peer, who as John Woodcock sat as a Labour MP in the House of Commons, said payments made by football clubs for regular policing serve as a precedent for seeking to charge protest organisers.
The marches have been organised by a coalition of five groups – the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Muslim Association of Britain, Friends of Al-Aqsa, the Palestinian Forum in Britain, Stop the War and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, told The National, that “the proposals, if implemented would be a fundamental assault on all democratic rights”.
“Marching as a form of protest is not a privilege or a gift granted by the government. It is a fundamental democratic right,” he said.
“These marches, by the police’s own admission, and by reference to the numbers arrested, have been overwhelmingly peaceful.
“So, we would argue that the police don't need to be spending so many resources on these marches, that these marches are over policed in relation to how orderly they are. If the police are finding that they are stretched, they might need to consider why they need so many officers.”
Mr Jamal said it was wrong of Lord Walney to make the parallel with football, which is a “form of entertainment”, with clubs being “commercial operations” whereas marches are made up of "ordinary people".
“What we’re talking about here are fundamental freedoms in which ordinary people hold the government to account,” he said.
Chris Nineham, the vice chairman of Stop the War, said: "Here we have a former Labour MP recommending the deeply anti-democratic idea that organisations peacefully protesting against war and for a ceasefire in Gaza should pay for their fundamental right to do so – a right that goes back hundreds of years.
"The fact is that the huge resource cost of policing our marches is entirely of the police’s own making and entirely unnecessary This is despite the fact that the police have themselves acknowledged that the demonstrations have been well organised and overwhelmingly peaceful."
The Met Police has used 28,000 officer shifts to deal with these protests and 1,600 officer shifts on mutual aid with 5,500 rest days cancelled, Mr Twist told MPs.
More than 800 hate crimes are being investigated and more than 6,000 hours of officer time will be needed to deal with them all, he revealed.
Lord Walney tweeted his position at the weekend ahead of the publication of his report. Parts of the report state that “the repeated incitements and disorder seen at the anti-Israel marches, such as when firecrackers have been thrown at police”, means “there is an argument that the organisers should cover some of these policing costs”.
Previously he has said the police should be able to ban demonstrations because of their impact on the Jewish community, which he said was facing an “emergency” because of an “explosion” in anti-Semitic incidents linked to the marches.
The Home Office would not say when Lord Walney's report would be published.
“The Independent Review into Political Violence and Disruption, led by Lord Walney, aims to increase the UK government’s understanding of the increase in activity amongst the far-right, far-left and other political groups, and the points at which their activities can cross into criminality and disruption," said a representative.
“We will respond to the report’s recommendations in due course.”
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
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Who is Mohammed Al Halbousi?
The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.
The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.
He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.
He is a member of the Al Hal Sunni-based political party and the Sunni-led Coalition of Iraqi Forces, which is Iraq’s largest Sunni alliance with 37 seats from the May 12 election.
He maintains good relations with former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coaliton, Hadi Al Amiri’s Badr Organisation and Iranian officials.
