Demonstrators hold up a banner against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill
(Picture: AP)Police have been filmed arresting protesters as ‘Kill the Bill’ demonstrators moved through central London on Monday night.
Several officers were seen grappling with one protester, near Downing Street in Whitehall, who is carried a few feet before being lowered to the pavement.
Paul Brown, who filmed the arrest, wrote: “Male protester gets arrested outside 10 Downing Street - takes a lot of police to bring him to the ground ..... The Police and Protest are clashing more and more as the night goes on.”
Another protestor was dragged through Tottenham Court Road by officers who pinned him up against a double-decker bus.
A tweet from the Metropolitan Police Events account said: “Officers continue to engage with the crowds causing disruption in central London, however we will shortly being moving towards enforcement activity.
“Please can we ask people to head home immediately.”
It came after hundreds of people blocked Westminster Bridge on Monday evening as MPs debated new policing legislation that would give officers more powers to crack down on protests.
Crowds had gathered in the afternoon in nearby Parliament Square for a vigil in memory of Sarah Everard, holding placards with slogans including “silence will not protect us” and “women matter”.
Chants of “sisters united will never be defeated” rang out and the crowd listened to speeches as dozens of police officers watched on.
Speakers at the rally also railed against the proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill and Scotland Yard’s handling of a vigil on Saturday, when officers clashed with crowds gathered on Clapham Common.
Home Secretary Priti Patel has claimed controversial new powers to curb protests are required following a “significant change in protest tactics” in recent years.
But she has been urged by MPs to drop “embarrassing” proposals from the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.
The legislation would give police in England and Wales the power to impose conditions on non-violent protests judged to be too noisy and thereby causing “intimidation or harassment” or “serious unease, alarm or distress” to the public.
Time and noise limits could be imposed as a result of the measures in the Bill.
