ECO zealots have descended on Whitehall and were seen targeting the Cenotaph as fears grow over the Remembrance Sunday parade.
Just Stop Oil protestors were pictured lying next to the sacred war memorial today with cops arresting at least 40 of them.
Peter Jordan40 eco yobs disrupting the area near the Cenotaph were arrested[/caption]
Peter JordanA protestor being hauled away from the remembrance memorial[/caption]
AlamyThe eco-yobs were lying down near the Cenotaph[/caption]
The group had staged a slow march towards the remembrance memorial.
One officer said the protesters had been moved to the site “to get them off the road”, adding: “It was for their own safety, obviously it’s quite a busy road.”
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper posted on X that “targeting the Cenotaph is totally unacceptable”.
She added: “Full support for the police in taking necessary enforcement action.”
It comes ahead of fears that the Remembrance Day parade could face chaos from protestors.
Concerns have already been growing that pro-Palestine protests will clash with the memorial parade, wreath laying ceremony and two-minute silence being held in the capital.
Rishi Sunak said that Metropolitan Police have ministers’ “absolute and total backing” to tackle criminality, ahead of the pro-Palestinian march on Saturday.
Speaking to broadcasters today, the PM said: “Remembrance Day is a time for national reflection. It is a time when I know the whole country will come together to pay tribute to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice to keep us safe.
“I want to make sure police have our absolute and total backing to clamp down on any acts of criminality, but also to ensure public order.”
It comes as a poppy seller was forced to leave an Edinburgh train station after pro-Palestine protesters staged a concourse sit in.
The Scottish Poppy Appeal said that the elderly volunteer packed up the stall at Edinburgh Waverly station after hundreds of demonstrators flooded the concourse.
Meanwhile a pair of Just Stop Oil protesters have been arrested after glass protecting the Rokeby Venus painting at the National Gallery in London was smashed.
The Met Police said two activists had been arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage.
The artwork, which was painted by Diego Velazquez in the 1600s, was previously slashed by suffragette Mary Richardson in March 1914.
Protestors were hauled away by copsAlamy Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
