Rishi Sunak has warned the Metropolitan Police Commissioner that he will hold him “accountable” for his decision to greenlight a “disrespectful” pro-Palestinian demonstration on Armistice Day.

The prime minister has summoned Sir Mark Rowley to a meeting later on Wednesday for more information on how he plans to keep the public safe.

It comes a day after Sir Mark resisted pressure heaped on the force by politicians, including Mr Sunak, to try to block the protest calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip in London on Saturday.

The country’s top officer said he did not have “absolute power” to block a protest and intelligence surrounding the rally did not meet the threshold to apply for a banning order, which can only be obtained when there is a risk of serious disorder.

Speaking to broadcasters during a visit to a school in Lincolnshire, the Prime Minister said: “This is a decision that the Metropolitan Police Commissioner has made.

“He has said that he can ensure that we safeguard remembrance for the country this weekend as well as keep the public safe.

“Now, my job is to hold him accountable for that.

“We’ve asked the police for information on how they will ensure that this happens. I’ll be meeting the Metropolitan Police Commissioner later today to discuss this.

“More broadly, my view is that these marches are disrespectful and that’s what I’ll be discussing with the Police Commissioner later today.”

Sir Mark had been due to appear at an event on the future of the Met at the Institute for Government on Wednesday afternoon, but it was postponed at the last minute amid the ongoing row over the protest.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused Mr Sunak of “cowardice” for “picking a fight” with the Met, tweeting: “Remembrance events must be respected. Full stop.

“But the person the PM needs to hold accountable is his Home Secretary. Picking a fight with the police instead of working with them is cowardice.”

However Downing Street insisted Mr Sunak is not trying to pressure Sir Mark into banning the protest.

The PM’s official spokesman said: “The Met are operationally independent, it’s the job of the prime minister and the government to hold them to account for their approach. So, that is what the prime minister will be doing.”

The meeting with Sir Mark is aimed at getting assurance he has considered all options and testing the approach to the decision to let the protest go ahead, The Independent understands.

Under section 13 of the 1986 Public Order Act, a police chief can ask the home secretary to ban marches to avoid serious public disorder.

However Sir Mark resisted calls to use the powers on Tuesday, saying: “The reason we have an independent police service is so that among debate, opinion, emotion and conflict, we stand in the centre, focused simply on the law and the facts in front of us.

“The laws created by Parliament are clear. There is no absolute power to ban protest, therefore there will be a protest this weekend.”

He added that use of the power to block moving protests is “incredibly rare” and should only be used if there is intelligence to suggest a “real threat” of serious disorder.

He said organisers of Saturday’s rally have shown “complete willingness to stay away from the Cenotaph and Whitehall and have no intention of disrupting the nation’s remembrance events”.

“Should this change, we’ve been clear we will use powers and conditions available to us to protect locations and events of national importance at all costs,” he added.

The Met had previously urged march organisers to “urgently reconsider” the event on Saturday, but the pro-Palestinian coalition behind it have refused to call it off.

The coalition of groups, which includes the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War and the Muslim Association of Britain, insisted they will press ahead with the demonstration calling for an immediate ceasefire. Thousands have joined weekly events led by the organisers since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on 7 October.

At the same school visit, Mr Sunak blasted the vandalism of the Rochdale Cenotaph, adding the “desecration of war memorials is absolutely sickening”. Greater Manchester Police is guarding the landmark after graffiti was sprayed on it and poppy wreaths were damaged in two separate incidents this week.

Mr Sunak’s warning to the commissioner comes after health secretary Steve Barclay insisted there will be “ongoing discussions” over Saturday’s march, which he described as “provocative”.

He told Sky News: “I think there’ll be ongoing discussions on this. There is a legal threshold and the Commissioner is of the view that that legal threshold has not been met. Obviously, the Home Office and colleagues will discuss that over the course of the day.”

His Cabinet colleague Lucy Frazer, who is Jewish, called for the Met to keep the “very provocative” march “under review”.

Meanwhile, fears are growing that far right groups and counter demonstrations could ramp up tensions on Saturday.

English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson has spoken out, saying: “British men are mobilising for Saturday to be in London” to “show our Government and show our police and show Hamas and everyone sitting around the world saying ‘Britain has fallen’ that there is a resistance”.

A call to arms has also been issued on social media by the Democratic Football Lads Alliance, a right-wing organisation that uses football fan networks to spread Islamophobic hate.

A post on the group’s Facebook page says: “Vets have reached out and asked for our support due to the threat from the far-left and pro-Palestinian supporters to disrupt the Remembrance Day parade.

“We are calling on all football lads up and down the country to join us in standing shoulder to shoulder with our veterans that fought for our freedom.”

However, Ms Frazer urged groups to refrain from “taking responsibility into their own hands”.

Despite the mounting controversy over the demonstration, Winston Churchill’s grandson Sir Nicholas Soames, a former armed forces minister, defended the right to protest.

He told LBC: “It’s nowhere near the Cenotaph. It’s in the afternoon and most of these people, 90% of those people are not there to make trouble.

“They’re there to express a deeply held view. And I think it must be allowed to go ahead and I think it would be a great mistake to play politics with it.”

He also challenged home secretary Suella Braverman’s description of the pro-Palestine protests as “hate marches”, adding: “There are some people who attach themselves, as you know, to every demonstration and that is my one fear about Saturday – but the police will handle that.”

Pro-Palestine protest organisers earlier told how they felt “vindicated” by Sir Mark’s admission that their rally did not pose a “real threat of serious disorder”.

Chris Nineham, vice chair of Stop the War Coalition, told BBC Radio 4: “You can’t ban a demo simply because you don’t like it.”

His comments came after former soldier Tobias Elwood MP said he stood with the prime minister in calling for the rally to be postponed amid fears it will “overshadow” Remembrance weekend.

“It will put a strain on public order policing. But more importantly, with thousands likely to turn up, can the organisers guarantee that it will be peaceful? They cannot vouch for everyone,” he added.

The planned route for the pro-Palestine march goes from Hyde Park – about a mile from the war memorial in Whitehall – to the US embassy in Vauxhall, south of the Thames.

The Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall, which will be attended by the King and Queen and other members of the royal family, will take place on Saturday. No protests are planned for Sunday, when the main Remembrance events will take place.