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LAST UPDATE | 19 Jul 2021
SCOTLAND YARD SAID 11 people have been arrested amid an anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine protest in Westminster, which saw demonstrators block a road and force traffic to a standstill on so-called “freedom day”.
Protesters held signs and chanted “freedom” as they gathered in Parliament Square on today after almost all remaining coronavirus restrictions were lifted in England.
The Metropolitan Police said, shortly after 3pm, that officers continued to respond to the demonstration in central London and that 11 people had been arrested for a variety of offences.
In a post on Twitter, the force added: “Our policing operation continues, sadly officers have been met with hostility while engaging with crowds.”
Footage posted on social media shows some protestors clashing with officers in the middle of the road on Parliament Street near Westminster Underground station, where hundreds of demonstrators had gathered.
Bottles were thrown in the direction of officers, many of whom were wearing helmets, as scuffles broke out and demonstrators shouted abuse at police in sweltering temperatures in the capital.
Dan Andersson, a 61-year-old entrepreneur from Oxford, joined the protest which he said was “a petition to lodge a complaint against the erosion of our civil liberties”.
“I have two teenage boys – I see this as me fighting for them and their futures,” he told the PA news agency.
Andersson claimed the crowd “wasn’t violent”, but added: “The crowd was more angry, more spirited than at previous London demonstrations.
“Close to Parliament Square there was a stand-off against an impromptu line of petitioners – some pushing and shoving, a couple of arrests.
“Someone fell over on the front line – both police and demonstrators helped him to his feet which was nice.”
Another attendee, who did not wish to be named, told PA there had been “lots of abuse directed against police” by those demonstrating.
The anti-lockdown protest comes on the day that most lockdown restrictions were eased in England, including an end to social distancing rules and face masks no longer mandatory in shops and on public transport.
Earlier today Monday, protesters spilled out of the square and into the road in front of the Houses of Parliament, bringing traffic to a standstill and leading officers to urge those involved to move out of the road.
An officer was seen to put a lock on a gate at the entrance to Parliament while those outside held signs with anti-vaccination and anti-police messages, with some chanting “shame on police” and “arrest Boris Johnson”.
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That they are a) protesting a lockdown that no longer exists, and b) protesting against a vaccine which is saving 1000s of lives, tells you all you need to know about these spacers.
@The Descolada: it reminds me of a story I heard on a podcast when these students were unhappy that the teachers in their school were always on strike and they weren’t able to teach the students and this was coming up to their leaving cert so they wanted to get some information covered. The students decided to go on strike during the school day to show their frustrations that the teachers weren’t teaching them and then they were doing this strike while the teachers were available to teach them. Madness.
@Eoin Fitzgerald: that happened in Ireland, when I was in school. Grand day off we got out of it. Much like the those lads protesting today nobody gave a flying bleep about the actual motivation for being out but twas a good excuse.
@Fred spins kdb:
I remember them well, only half made it out of our school but the rest of the day was a doss.
Bit of a shame though, as it took the option of strike days off the agenda and we missed out on a few extra days off.
Lasted from 2000 to 2004 if I remember correctly.
@Eoin Fitzgerald: that happened in my school in 2001. It was ridiculous in fairness. The teachers were striking 3 days a week for at least 4 weeks.
Us students (I was a first year) went on strike for one day.
I think the teacher strike ended the following week.
The strike was happening Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. The strike ended on a Tuesday. My dad kept me off school on the Wednesday. I spent the day at work with him, then popping over to the nearby hospital to visit mum who had surgery on the Monday. It was more practical to keep me off that day, as the days I was in school, I was staying with a neighbour until 10pm or later, after school, until mum came home.
@The Descolada: Another good one was the protest before the Ireland v England rugby match in Croker. Picture of a dumb prat holding a “No foreign games in Croke Park” whilst wearing a.celtic top.
@Des Doyle: That was photo shopped.
@Vonvonic: No it was not, I saw him and many others wearing the same gear. I lived beside the place
Absolute tools
Staging a protest against restrictions that have already been lifted??? What point are they even trying to make?
Great British common sense is apparently not all that common it seems.
@Kevin Collins: same common sense that voted for brexit.
@Kevin Collins: well isn’t it logical and probable the the article above is omiting key details about the on going situation of lockdowns in the UK? Otherwise those people are (being portrayed) barmey, which they obviously aren’t. Just pure logic and likelihood.
@Merlin Lancelot: what are the key details missing?
@Colm OS: Apparently many of the banners on display carried antivax slogans.
@Tommy Roche: maybe so but merlin referenced the “ongoing lockdown”. From what I can see there is no mitigation /legitimate reason for the protest. Even if it is mainly anti vax, it doesn’t do much to dissuade me from my opinion that they’re either malcontents or woefully uninformed of the reality of Covid, making them stupid or selfish
@Merlin Lancelot: No. Its far more logical that they are mainly a random assortment of id*ots
@Colm OS: Maybe they’re all having a midlife crisis there?
@Merlin Lancelot: no they are barmey, they lack logic and they think that watching YouTube conspiracy videos make them educated.
@Merlin Lancelot: pure logic and likelihood would dictate that there is, in any population, an amount of barmey individuals. Pure logic and likelihood would tell you that those protesting to get something that has already happened done are most likely in that category. Pure logic and likelihood would also tell us that you are one of them.
Over 50k cases a day, they’ll soon have their highest daily figures since the start of the pandemic. The decision to end mandatory mask usage is absolutely asinine. There may be less deaths than the last wave, but there’s going to be tens of thousands of people with long-term symptoms for the coming years.
@Seán Ó Briain: you must be an expert, maybe they should consult you before making decisions, your crystal ball must be in great demand being able to see into the future.
@Hugh Fogerty: your not going to be able to help people like this hugh, they are so addicted to the covid lifestyles of fear, social distancing, permanent mask wearing and restrictions they don’t want covid to go away its part of their new normal, its kinda worrying really, I genuinely feel sorry for these people being trapped in this cycle of fear
@Hugo Bugo: as opposed to the willful ignorance of the effects and fact of Covid which Hugo has shown all the way through. While you may not like the Lockdowns and restrictions that have been put in place, do you really believe that it hasn’t prevented people getting covid? There is a balance that needs to be struck between protecting people and the economy, while I don’t think the government has gotten it right all of the time, think that Ireland has done better than a lot of countries.
All these decisions were made on the limited information at the time and applying 20/20 vision to it after the fact doesn’t make what the government did wrong
@Hugo Bugo: the only people I hear talking about fear are the anti-restriction people; the rest of us are just following advice to reduce transmission. Are you terrified every time you put your seatbelt on? I
@EillieEs: Now I finally understand the Seatbelt???!!! advert that I’ve seen so many times.
@Hugo Bugo: Hugo boss is a massive covid denier. And has been all along.
@EillieEs: well said
@Hugo Bugo: No one trapped in a cycle of fear Hugo. Its actually people like you are trying to spread the idea of it. The media has always went for exaggeration and sensationalism, I thought you would have known that.
@Hugo Bugo: Fear is good, it saves people from getting hurt or worse. If you are not afraid of a deadly virus then you have a problem.
You take precautions to avoid injury and serious illness and that’s what the people you feel sorry for are taking.
Safety precautions.
Anybody else think getting rid of masks and distancing was unnecessary?
@Eoin Fitzgerald: Everyone except for these bozos.
@Eoin Fitzgerald: they didn’t . Only dropped the law from prosecution. Bojo still recommends masks and distancing in public areas. Bars & transport etc. But the UK heads won’t listen. What the numbers will be a good lab test for the rest of world.
Plague Island.
@John Vectravi: with airports
@SPQH: “tell a horror story in two words” comes to mind…this is gonna be a disaster for em’
Easing the lockdown yes… but no masks and social distance think a step too far with so many cases …we will wait and see hope long covid don’t get them
@Natasha Gillen: karma and all that…
Got so worked up about their freedoms at every protest that they forgot what they were protesting for
@Kiern Mcx: The irony.
@Kiern Mcx:
What do we want?
WE DON’T KNOW!!!
When do we we want it?
NOW!!!
Free-dumb day.
‘”Of course, don’t ever tell anybody that they’re not free, ’cause then they’re gonna get real busy killin’ and maimin’ to prove to you that they are. Oh, yeah, they’re gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom. But they see a free individual, it’s gonna scare ‘em…” George Hanson (Jack Nicholson) Easy Rider – 1969. Still very pertinent today…
Freedom for some a death set for others
@frank_66: ..freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose..
@Aire Dezamba: I pulled my harpoon out of my dirty red mask ;
I’s playin’ soft while Boris sang the blues
Why are they protesting if restrictions are already lifted. Doesn’t make any sense.
WTAF
Round them up and stick them all on a small island .
@David Grey: They did that 700 years ago and now we have the DUP.
@lelookcoco: LOL
Interesting how a crowd shouting freedom are labeled as anti vaxxers. Also interesting how people on here criticize people shouting freedom labeled as anti vaxxers by the media. Our democracy is hanging by a thread.
@inflation is coming… buy physical silver.: https://youtu.be/78LiJnPqsDw
@inflation is coming… buy physical silver.: here’s another one who needs Mammy to tie his shoelaces.
@inflation is coming… buy physical silver.: Maybe the anti vax banners they were holding gave the gig away.
Our democracy is fine robust as always. Democracy is not to right to infect people with a deadly disease.
Freedom’s just another word for norhing left to lose…
The Brits love a good row.
has it turned into a zombie apocalypse over yet ?
Friendly scenes as police officer gives protester a noogie.
What BoJo said previously about him preferring bodies piled high in the streets rather than another lockdown was true. This is the start of it. Hancocks departure was 100% manufacturered, even Hancock wanted out
Wait, what?
Shambles
They are so deep in conspiracy news sites they haven’t a clue what’s really going on in the real world
Calling it “Freedom Day” was always going to encourage the conspiracy nutters to spill out into the streets. It’s just unfortunate that these same nutters believe freedom means firing bottles at your countries police force including police horses. If that’s freedom, they can keep it.
Video: Tom D’Arcy called Constance Markievicz a man on RTE News yesterday evening – https://www.joe.ie/uncategorized/video-tom-darcy-called-constance-markievicz-a-man-on-rte-news-yesterday-evening-350960?utm_source=whatsapp&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=onsite_share
Anti lockdown and not wearing masks and outside?
What have I missed ? The laws end to restrictions, so the anti lockdowners go on protest. Absolute tools. God bless the UK public as figures will go higher, already out of control.
It says a lot about how deranged these loopers are that everyone commenting on this article seems to be in agreement. I don’t think I ever saw a journal.ie article with such consensus before. Are they too busy trying to lick each other to prove Covid isn’t real to bother going online to defend themselves? Numpties.
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