London’s Metropolitan Police (Met) chief, Mark Rowley, has said that his force imposed unprecedented restrictions on a major pro-Palestine rally in London on Saturday that led to 77 arrests.

Pro-Israel groups, chief rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, MPs and peers had reportedly urged Met commissioner Rowley to reroute the protest. Last week, the police took the unusual step of announcing an alternative route for the march, beginning at Russell Square. However, the Met later backed down and agreed to a “static protest” at Whitehall.

The day after the rally, on Sunday, Rowley gave a speech at an event held by the pro-Israel Board of Deputies of British Jews, where he said that “the powers to condition protests are quite limited – we’ve used conditions on the protests more than we ever have done before in terms of times, constraints, routes”.