Denise Welch declared that anti-racism protests are 'more important than anything' as she took a firm stand against people criticising the weekend's Black Lives Matter events across the country.
Across the weekend a whole host of BLM protests took place across the UK, with the majority of them, including one in Newcastle, being observed peacefully but some were marred by violent scenes.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has now publicly hit out at violent protesters, tweeting: "People have a right to protest peacefully & while observing social distancing but they have no right to attack the police. These demonstrations have been subverted by thuggery - and they are a betrayal of the cause they purport to serve. Those responsible will be held to account."
Other people reacted with some alarm to pictures of large crowds of people gathering, given that over 40,000 have now died from coronavirus in the UK.
The issue was debated on Monday's Loose Women and Geordie actress Denise said that, while she appreciated concerns around COVID-19, she felt the protests needed to happen.
"This is about 500 years of systemic racism and the George Floyd tragedy that happened. It's not like the black community worldwide can say 'this is terrible but we'll wait until the virus is over before we make our point.'
"I think they've just deemed that this fight is more important than taking the risk of coronavirus at this time. And let's hope that because of the risk taken to everyone involved in the protests, we see some massive political changes."
Referencing that she previously hit out at scenes on Westminister Bridge where huge crowds gathered for Clap for Carers, Denise added: "I have been a fighter against the bridge gatherings as there were other ways to do that.
"But in this case it is so important that the black community, with us standing with them, have taken this this stance. It's more important than anything else."
