Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has called accusations of two-tier policing "complete nonsense" - and said they are putting officers at risk.
Sir Mark condemned the claims saying: "It's complete nonsense. We operate independently under the law without fear or favour.
"They are putting them at risk by suggesting that any of those officers are going out with, as with any intent, other than to operate without fear or favour in protecting communities."
Sir Mark, who has been commissioner since 2022, attended an emergency COBRA meeting with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and other police chiefs on Monday evening after the riots ramped up over the weekend.
He said it had been a "positive and constructive" meeting about "our collective response to hateful behaviour and violent disorder across the country".
It comes as the prime minister and the government have faced criticism from some on the right, as well as from Elon Musk, the US-based owner of social media platform X, that police have handled the disorder more harshly than if it had involved members of ethnic minorities.
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