Three police officers have been injured at an anti-lockdown protest in central London, which saw officers make 14 arrests.
Traffic was blocked and people became “obstructive and hostile” towards officers at a demonstration in Westminster this afternoon (June 21), the Metropolitan Police said on Twitter.
The force said 14 people were arrested “for a variety of offences, including obstructing the highway, public order offences, assaulting an emergency service worker and for breach of bail conditions”.
It added that the injuries to three police officers were “not serious”.
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The Met Police said it had deployed officers, including mounted branch units, to respond to crowds of demonstrators in Parliament Square, along Whitehall and on Bridge Street.
The protest comes on the day that Covid-19 restrictions were hoped to be further eased in England before the government delayed the final stage of the roadmap.
The Met’s statement said: “Throughout the day, officers worked hard to minimise disruption to the Westminster community and to keep traffic and public transport moving.
“Despite this, several people within the demonstration obstructed the roads or became hostile towards police officers.
“The policing operation will continue into the evening, with a number of officers on patrol throughout Westminster.
“Those who continue to gather are urged to comply with Government regulations to prevent further spread of coronavirus.”
Boris Johnson had originally set today (June 21) for the end of all legal coronavirus restrictions under his road map to ease England’s lockdown.
But so-called Freedom Day was last week delayed until July 19 due to concerns over the rapidly-spreading Delta variant, which was first identified in India.
Today, Mr Johnson said the July 19 date for easing the final restrictions in England is “looking good”, when asked if he would rule out further lockdowns this winter.
“You can never exclude that there will be some new disease, some new horror that we simply haven’t budgeted for, or accounted for,” he told reporters during a visit to a laboratory in Hertfordshire.
“But looking at where we are, looking at the efficacy of the vaccines against all variants that we can currently see… I think it’s looking good for July 19 to be that terminus point.”
