Good Policing, Woeful Policing and Police Scotland

I intend lodging the following complaint with Police Scotland over the woeful policing of the For Women Scotland rally at the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 4 September 2025.

Trans activists are their own worst enemies and the ugly, harassment on display outside Holyrood last Thursday helps to explain why public opinion has turned so sharply against their bully-boy tactics. 

Here's a photo of Let Women Speak supporters on the east side of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery.

And a photo of Tom Harlow and his fellow 'disrupters' corralled on the west side of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery.

Jo Farrell

Chief Constable

Police Scotland

Dear Chief Constable Farrell

Policing of For Women Scotland Rally At The Scottish Parliament

I wish to register a formal complaint over the policing of the For Women Scotland (FWS) rally at the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 4 September 2025.

For some unexplained reason the police officers on duty allowed a counter-protest to set up right next to the spot where FWS supporters would be gathering to listen to invited speakers.

The individual behind this counter-protest is a man called Tom Harlow who is well known to the authorities and he proceeded to play extremely loud music through a sound system with the sole intention of disrupting the event by drowning out the FWS speakers.

The general effect was to harass women who were trying to exercise their rights to free speech and freedom of assembly.

The FWS organisers tried to reason with Mr Harlow by asking him to turn down his deafening sound system, but he refused and the police on duty failed to intervene despite being asked to do so.

Contrast the situation in Edinburgh with the policing of the Let Women Speak rally in Glasgow on Saturday 8 August 2025.

When I arrived at the LWS event in Glasgow I walked towards a similar protest organised by Mr Harlow & Co to take a few photos, but I was asked by a police officer not to get too close to the counter-protesters as the police wanted to keep the two groups well apart to avoid any confrontation.

Now this seemed like an over-reaction to me although I was happy to oblige and took my photos from further away than I had originally intended - no big deal.

The Glasgow police were as good as their word - the two groups were kept at either end of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery (see attached photos) and everything passed off peacefully with Mr Harlow and his fellow 'disrupters' corralled a hundred metres or so from the LWS event and its supporters.

So it seems to me that the police in Glasgow did their job professionally, properly and even-handedly while the police in Edinburgh plainly did not - which is what I would ask you to consider in investigating my complaint.

In my view, Mr Harlow's actions in Edinburgh were extremely provocative and created a real public nuisance - his behaviour amounted to harassment and he ought to have been dealt with by the police officers present on the day.

I have a photo of the Glasgow police officer whom I spoke to at the Let Women Speak rally on Saturday 8 August 2025 and I can send you a copy of the photo separately if this would help with your investigation.

In the meantime, I hope Police Scotland is urgently reviewing its policing of these events because it is outrageous that counter-protesters are allowed to undermine people's right to free speech and freedom of assembly with their bully-boy tactics.

I look forward to hearing from you in due course.

Mark Irvine