Communication with Mail on Sunday

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.030266

I note you seek access to the following information:

The article in the Mail on Sunday on 22 April entitled "Extremists' vile plot to spook King's horses with rape alarms” includes the statement, "Militant protesters are plotting to sabotage the Coronation by throwing rape alarms at horses in the procession, senior security sources have told The Mail on Sunday.”

I would be grateful to know what communication the police had with the Mail on Sunday regarding this article.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:

Section 40(2)(3)&(4) – Personal Information

Reason for decision

Before I explain the reasons for the decisions I have made in relation to your request, I thought that it would be helpful if I outline the parameters set out by the Act within which a request for information can be answered. The Act creates a statutory right of access to information held by public authorities. A public authority in receipt of a request must, if permitted, confirm if the requested information is held by that public authority and, if so, then communicate that information to the applicant.

The right of access to information is not without exception and is subject to a number of exemptions which are designed to enable public authorities to withhold information that is not suitable for release. Importantly, the Act is designed to place information into the public domain, that is, once access to information is granted to one person under the Act, it is then considered public information and must be communicated to any individual should a request be received.

Details of an investigation could cause an individual to be identified and is therefore exempted in this case.

Section 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018 confirms that information which relates to an identified or identifiable living individual is Personal Data.

The Freedom of Information Act provides an exemption for Personal Data and this is known as the section 40 exemption.

Some of the information sought under your Freedom of Information request includes the following which we consider to be Personal Data

• Names of people within the data, that could, if disclosed, identify an individual.

Where the request is seeking access to third party personal data the section 40(2) exemption may be engaged.

In order to apply the Section 40(2) exemption the disclosure of the requested information must satisfy either the first, second or third conditions as defined by subsections 3A, 3B and 4A of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (as amended by
Section 58 of the Data Protection Act 2018).

The first condition ensures that the exemption would apply in circumstances where the disclosure of the information would breach any of the Data Protection Act 2018 principles.

There are six Data Protection principles set out in the 2018 act and these can be found at section 34.

In this instance I have decided that the disclosure of the Personal Data would be incompatible with the first Data Protection principle which states that the processing (in this case the disclosure) of the data must be both lawful and fair.

Disclosure

The harm of disclosure is reduced by redacting the names from the information provided.

We received the following enquiry from (Name redacted under Section 40(2) Personal Information) at the Mail On Sunday on 7 April 2023:
From: Name (Name redacted under Section 40(2) Personal Information)
Sent: 07 April 2023 13:03
To: Press Bureau (Name redacted under Section 40(2) Personal Information)
Subject: Mail on Sunday enquiry

Hi,
I am writing a story for this weekend’s Mail on Sunday, which I wondered if the Met could please comment on.
(Redacted under Section 40(2) Personal Information) During a training day in an office in Dalston, East London, (Name redacted under Section 40(2) Personal Information) revealed that the group want to target the Coronation as part of a summer of action.

‘There are some other big cultural events throughout the summer that basically we’re going to be disrupting’, (Redacted under Section 40(2) Personal Information) said, adding: ‘...the Coronation as well.’
Separately, we understand that the government fears Extinction Rebellion is also planning to disrupt the Coronation. One plan is said to involve throwing green paint over the King and/or vehicles in the Coronation procession. We believe high-level meetings involving the Met and security services have taken place in a bid to thwart the plot.

Would the Met like to comment?

Thanks,

(Name redacted under Section 40(2) Personal Information)
The Mail on Sunday

(Phone numbers and email address redacted under Section 40(2) Personal Information)

The MPS responded with the following statement:

People can be confident that the Met has in place a proportionate policing plan for the Coronation of His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort, as well as all big events this summer.

We’re not aware of any further enquiries from the Mail On Sunday about plans to use ‘rape alarms’.