Met Police, USA News (London): The Metropolitan Police will reduce the number of officers assigned to Trooping the Colour and other major military ceremonies in London, handing most security duties to a private contractor instead. The force has removed what sources told the Telegraph to be “the vast majority” of its policing provision for the King’s birthday parade, along with gun salutes and the Changing of the Guard.
Under the revised arrangements, due to come into effect next month, only a “minimal” police presence will remain at these events, with significantly fewer officers on the ground. The sweeping reductions have been driven by budgetary constraints and growing pressure to redirect officers towards front-line neighbourhood policing. While Met sources maintained the force would still back “nationally significant events,” a defence source disputed this, telling the publication: “They are not supporting Trooping the Colour in the same way, nor many other events.”
Over the past year, an estimated 17,800 officers were deployed to support military ceremonial duties, costing the Met roughly £10.6million. Providing that level of coverage meant pulling front-line officers away from their local beats, including specialist personnel such as motorcycle riders from the force’s traffic divisions. The Met has argued that difficult choices about resource allocation were unavoidable.
A spokesman for the force said: “The public rightly want to see officers on the front line, arresting criminals and keeping our city safe. That’s our priority.” The spokesman added: “Against a backdrop of financial cuts and increased demand, we had to make difficult decisions about what to prioritise to protect Londoners and over recent months have engaged with the Ministry of Defence around proposed changes to how we support military ceremonial events.” It is understood that future police support will be determined by threat, harm and risk assessments.
An Army source warned that a private firm could not “provide the same level of assurance to the soldiers and the public about safety in the face of any potential security risk.” It was emphasised that a visible police presence remained “vital” for the safe running of ceremonial occasions. The concern comes against a backdrop of targeted violence against uniformed military personnel in Britain. Anthony Esan was handed a life sentence and detained in hospital earlier this year after admitting the attempted murder of Lt Col Mark Teeton, who was wearing his Army uniform at the time of the 2024 attack. Esan had researched the 2013 killing of Drummer Lee Rigby before attempting to behead the officer.
Lord Dannatt, the former chief of the Army, described the move as unexpected. “The bottom line is internal security is the responsibility of the Metropolitan Police, end of story,” he said. “I am surprised that a risk assessment can outsource something like this to private security. On the face of it, it sounds wrong and shouldn’t be driven on cost grounds.”
Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge called the reports “very concerning,” insisting that the Armed Forces “defend our nation and are entitled to expect appropriate policing for major military ceremonial events, especially when they are so special to our national heritage.” He urged ministers to “urgently provide reassurance that such events will be properly policed.”
Liberal Democrat MP Mike Martin, who sits on the defence select committee, branded the decision “outrageous” and said it made Britain less safe. He pointed to recent “sabotage and surveillance operations conducted on defence establishments,” arguing that security at events like Trooping the Colour formed part of the country’s homeland resilience.
The Metropolitan Police defended its position by stressing that protecting Londoners remained its overriding priority, noting that the changes followed months of engagement with the Ministry of Defence over how ceremonial support would be restructured. The Ministry of Defence, for its part, struck a conciliatory tone. A spokesman said: “We continue to work collaboratively with the Metropolitan Police on ceremonial events and greatly value the support of our policing colleagues, whose contribution to delivering these important activities is invaluable.”
