London police have apologized to a talented popular 20-year-old Christian singer and songwriter Harmonie London (Harmonie London), who was recently banned from singing on spiritual themes on Oxford Street, one of the most famous and busy shopping streets in the British capital, writes the newspaper "Christian Today".
Harmonie London, who has about 300,000 fans on Instagram [the social network is banned in Russia - note] and more than 320,000 subscribers on YouTube, was approached by Metropolitan Police volunteer Maya Hadjipetkova after she sang the famous spiritual hymns "Amazing Grace" and "Goodness of God" by English clergyman, poet and hymnographer John Newton (1725-1807).
According to the singer, the volunteer threatened to take away her sound equipment if she did not stop performing immediately.
The incident was caught on video. M. Khadzhipetkova told the girl that she was "not allowed to sing church hymns outside the temple".
When London started to assert her right to sing outside, the police volunteer showed her tongue to the camera.
However, London's police soon apologized to the singer and explained that the volunteer was "mistaken in saying that church hymns were supposedly not allowed to be sung outside the temple."
"We apologize for the offence caused and will continue to investigate the incident," the police said in a statement.
Police Ms. Harmony was stopped after being mistaken for a street musician performing for cash (busking). According to British laws, such street musicians cannot perform in front of the public without the permission of the city administration. According to the police, "M. Hadjipetkova had to deal with the situation first. Now her superiors are talking to her".
In turn, in an interview with the Daily Mail, Harmony said that she was "sharing the gospel through music" and not performing to make money.
The video of Harmony's confrontation with the police volunteer has been viewed more than 50,000 times on YouTube.
Meanwhile, 76-year-old political activist, former British Conservative Party MP, writer and broadcaster Ann Widdecombe called for Hadjipetkova to be "excluded from volunteer policing squads".
"She has completely misinterpreted the law. Seems to have reveled too much in her power in trying to ban this girl from singing..... And there's no basis for saying you can't do that! I could walk down the street singing "Onward Christian Soldiers." [Onward Christian Soldiers, by English clergyman, hagiographer, poet, writer and folk song collector Sabin Baring-Gould (1834-1924), without committing any offense," the politician said in the an interview with the British television channel GB News.
According to British media reports, the case of Harmony London may soon be considered in the House of Commons of the British Parliament.
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