A 15,000-strong crowd march for Black Lives Matter in Brighton

Angry scenes have been captured in town squares across the UK as Black Lives Matter protesters clashed with counter-demonstrators today. 

More than 1,000 protesters gathered in Brighton to stand in solidarity with BLM demonstrations worldwide. 

While protesters in Bristol denied they were far-right supporters while gathering at the Cenotaph with ‘All Lives Matter’ banners. 

Hundreds of BLM and pro-statue anti-protesters are also rallying in cities across the country such as Liverpool, Newcastle, Brighton and Glasgow. 

Demonstrators and anti-protesters seen in videos and photographs from the rallies defy strict social distancing measures as they crowd together.

One counter-protest banner read: ‘Not far right just ordinary people of all races from Bristol, Bath, Cardiff, Newport etc. United to defend the Cenotaph to defend the memory of people who died so that we are able to have the freedom to protest.’

Among those gathered was a large contingent of bikers who parked their motorbikes next to the war memorial.

Hundreds also flocked to George Square in Glasgow to ‘protect’ a war memorial.

In an event organised by a group called the Loyalist Defence League (LDL), people congregated to stop vandalism to the Glasgow Cenotaph, erected to commemorate the lives of those who died in the First World War. 

Forming a mile-long line along the Brighton seafront, activists wearing black clothes and masks and holding signs held a silent protest on Saturday afternoon.

Rallies were also planned in other cities across the UK, including Newcastle, Liverpool, Southport, Tamworth, Shrewsbury, Barry, Reading, Slough, Croydon, Chelmsford, Kings Lynn and Hemel Hempstead.  

Hundreds of people attended the Black Lives Matter protest in Gloucester Park where several speakers took to the bandstand to address the crowds, along with choirs and singers who performed songs such as Something Inside So Strong.

Aqualina Richards, 24, from Gloucester, said: ‘I was born in England and have lived in Gloucestershire my whole life, and I’ve experienced racism.

‘It is still definitely going on to this day. I work in Gloucester and I can feel it. It is one of those things where it just feels unjust, and I just felt that I had to come and support in whatever way I can.

‘I feel like a lot of people don’t want to accept the fact that racism is still a problem today, but I believe it really is and we need to start talking about it to fix anything.

‘The UK definitely does have an issue with racism. If you just look into it, it is there, it is happening, and it is real.’ 

It comes as police fought to keep control of London this afternoon after a far-right rally spiralled into hooliganism and ran riot through Westminster. 

Mounted officers and riot squads armed with shields have desperately tried to separate today’s Black Lives Matter demonstration from the fierce counter-protest. 

Both groups have marched on Trafalgar Square, where smoke bombs were detonated, and have been within sight of each other.

Crowds of pro-statue campaigners had earlier surrounded the monument of Winston Churchill, which has been boarded up by Sadiq Khan for fear of it becoming a ‘flashpoint’ of far-right violence.

They later peeled off to the Cenotaph where they rushed up to the police blockage, where they goaded constables and pelted them with bottles and cans.  

The pro-statue rally included veterans dressed in military uniform as well as far-right thugs such as Britain First leader Paul Golding.  

Priti Patel has condemned the ‘unacceptable thuggery’ and said the perpetrators would face the ‘full force of the law’.  

Mounted police, who also came under fire from projectiles, have been trying to push demonstrators back from the other end of Parliament Square, near the boarded-up statues of Nelson Mandela and Gandhi, where a device emitted dark smoke into the crowd.  

The Home Secretary tweeted a video of the affray and wrote: ‘Throughly (sic) unacceptable thuggery. Any perpetrators of violence or vandalism should expect to face the full force of the law. 

‘Violence towards our police officers will not be tolerated. Coronavirus remains a threat to us all. Go home to stop the spread of this virus & save lives.’ 

BLM coordinators had formally scrapped today’s demonstration for fear of clashes, but many have still taken to the streets. 

This morning, a senior BLM organsier said Churchill’s statue should be removed from Parliament Square.  

Imarn Ayton, 29, a figurehead of the movement who has given speeches alongside Star Wars actor John Boyega, said a monument to anyone who has made racist comments  – including the wartime PM – is offensive and belongs in a museum.

But she urged campaigners to stay off the streets of London to prevent rallies exploding into a ‘race war’ against the far-right, who are among those trooping to the capital and other cities across the UK to defend targeted sculptures.   

The Mayor of London today defended his decision to board up monuments in Westminster by pointing to possible violence from far-right groups.

He told Radio 4’s Today programme this morning: ‘We have intelligence that extreme far-right groups are coming to London, they say to protect the statues but we think these statues could become a flash point for violence. 

‘And we are worried in far-right groups getting involved in violence, vandalism and disorder with those protesting as part of the BLM movement. 

‘And that’s one of the reasons why I’m asking people to stay away from central London.’ 

Scotland Yard is desperate to keep control of London after last weekend’s largely peaceful protest was hijacked by pockets of violence, which targeted constables.

Police chiefs have imposed a 5pm curfew on the demonstration and warned that officers are ready to make arrests.  

Asked if she believes Winston Churchill statue should be removed, Ms Ayton told BBC Radio 4: ‘Yes I do. I believe these statues should be moved to a museum I think it’s a win win for everyone. It no longer offends the black nation, but we get to keep our history and keep those that would like to see that. 

Asked why Churchill’s statue was offensive, she said: ‘Any statue of people who has spoken negatively towards black people is going to be offensive. Any man.’  

Yesterday, the Prime Minister waded into the debate on statues to slam the boarding up of his political hero, Churchill’s sculpture.

He said it was ‘absurd and shameful’ that a statue of Sir Winston Churchill was ‘at risk of attack’ by protesters and ‘the only responsible course of action is to stay away from these protests’.  

Home Secretary Priti Patel weighed in behind her boss and demanded Churchill be ‘set free’.

She told the Daily Mail: ‘We should free Churchill, a hero of our nation, who fought against fascism and racism in this country and Europe.’

Churchill’s grandson Nicholas Soames, the former Tory MP, said that covering the wartime PM’s statue was a national humiliation. 

This morning, Mr Khan responded to criticism with a dig at Boris Johnson and said: ‘I’d remind Londoners and all those around the country this isn’t the first statues in Parliament Square and London have been boarded up. 

‘Indeed Parliament Square was fenced off for a number of weeks when Boris Johnson was Mayor.’

The Mayor also accused Ms Patel of seeking to score ‘political points’.

He said: ‘She needs to see the intelligence that we have seen that the far right are intending to come to central London.

‘One of their justifications for doing so is to protect these statues but also they are intending to remove statues of people like Nelson Mandela, so I think we have done the wise, precautionary thing.

‘Rather than seeking to make political points out of this, what I hope is that central government would work with regional government and the police to make sure there isn’t violence, vandalism or disorder or inadvertently the spreading of the virus.’ 

Hooligan groups raised a call to arms this morning for supporters to head to Whitehall at the same time George Floyd demonstrators are marching from Hyde Park.

The Democratic Football Lads Alliance, which is rallying ‘football lads, patriots, veterans and people who just love their country’, insists it is not rousing a counter-protest but is instead on a ‘protection mission’. 

Paul Golding, the leader of far-right group Britain First, was pictured at the Cenotaph this morning wearing a top emblazoned with the words ‘white lives matter’.  

Daisy, a 26-year-old from Pimlico, passed demonstrators in Parliament Square as she went for a run at around 10.30 on Saturday morning and claimed many were already drinking alcohol.

‘They were all drinking beers and there was already loads of cans lying round on the floor treating it like it was some sort of football away-day,’ she said.

‘It was a really tense and hostile atmosphere. I didn’t stay too long… it was really uncomfortable.’

Swathes of the public have expressed outrage at the recent removal of statues and have peacefully encircled some of the ones at risk of vandalism over recent days.

Ms Ayton joined the Mayor in urging people not to protest today for fear of violence from the far-right.

She added: ‘I think everyone is very worried about any type of race war that could occur because that takes away from what we’re trying to achieve, which is abolishing institutional racism and a massive war on a Saturday because of far-right takes away everything we’re trying to achieve over the last week.’ 

Other anti-racism figures also expressed nervousness about clashes in the capital today. 

Nick Knowles, from Hope Not Hate, this morning told BBC Today : ‘If you look whose planning to come into London today, you have seasoned football hooligans… BNP protesters. 

‘You have some who are concerned about statues, but others who are looking for a fight and have openly said this on their social media channels.’

Denise Richards, one of the organisers of the recent wave of BLM protests, said many activists would avoid London today for fear of violent clashes.

She said: ‘No I won’t be coming to London, initially that was the plan but hearing what the far right were planning to do, for our chapter it was a non-starter.

Asked why she was backing off, she added: ‘If we don’t give into threats, people will lose their lives… I just don’t think it’s worth us losing our lives.’   

The BLM route mandated by police starts at Hyde Park and goes to Park Lane, Hyde Park Corner, Piccadilly, Piccadilly Circus, Haymarket, Cockspur Street, Trafalgar Square before finishing in Whitehall, north of the police barrier. 

Conditions imposed by Met Police, mean that a number of the statues in Parliament Square -including Winston Churchill’s – will only be accessible to pro-statue protesters. 

The conditions were set under section 12 of the Public Order Act. 

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Mr Khan said: ‘The police can arrest, detain and charge, ultimately if you breach the conditions,’ he said, adding that this included people who were protesting peacefully. 

Right-wing groups will have to assemble in Parliament Square and Whitehall, and must remain south of the police barrier. 

Met Police commander Bas Javid has warned that ‘violence’ and ‘criminal behaviour against our officers’ will ‘not be tolerated.’

Scotland Yard also warned protesters to reconsider attending today due to the coronavirus pandemic, with concerns mass gatherings could help contribute to a second wave of the disease.  

Met Police commander Bas Javid said: ‘I absolutely understand why people want to make their voices heard – there is a really strong depth of feeling out in the communities, but the Government direction is that we remain in a health pandemic and people are asked not to gather in large groups. 

‘By doing so, you are putting your own safety, and that of your family or friends at risk. We are asking you not to come to London, and let your voices be heard in other ways.

‘We all saw the crowds that came together last weekend, and the demonstration on the whole was peaceful and reinforced the legitimacy of feelings within our communities.

‘However on both days, there was a minority intent on disorder, which resulted in incidents of violence and criminal behaviour, and assaults against our officers. This cannot be tolerated.’

Yet police allowed thousands of Black Lives Matter protesters to file through central London last night. 

Demonstrators made their way to Trafalgar Square from Hyde Park freely. But police nabbed two ‘known’ activists who were wanted for questioning over previous protests.  

Police chiefs have slammed Priti Patel after she called for a clampdown on Black Lives Matters protesters. One chief constable told The Times that her demands were a ‘chilling abuse of power’. 

At Friday’s protest a huge security alert was in operation to protect historic statues from being damaged and several including that of Sir Winston Churchill were boarded up.

Officers, who could have arrested more protesters for breaking social distancing rules and illegally assembling, let the crowds move into Trafalgar Square.

Despite there being little trouble, riot police were on standby aware that tensions remained high and of the previous violence over the past week. 

Meanwhile, police officers were booed and had obscenities shouted at them as they moved in to detain two of the protesters in Hyde Park yesterday afternoon.

Around 20 officers moved through peaceful protesters sitting on the grass to seize suspected activists thought to be behind disorder at previous protests, including an anti Capitalist demo in London’s stock exchange in February.

A man in a black top and baseball cap was among those led away as members of the crowd started to gather around the officers but who were then warned to be peaceful by one of the protest organisers on loudspeaker. 

A spokesman for City of London Police said: ‘The individuals arrested by the Metropolitan Police today are wanted by the City of London Police for matters unrelated to their activity at any of the Black Lives Matter protests.

‘As it is an ongoing police investigation we can’t provide any more details.’  

The Labour MPs who want to silence me are the racists, says Priti Patel: Home Secretary reveals the racist abuse she suffered at school, argues the real bigots are on the left and calls for Churchill to be freed

By Rebecca Hardy and Andrew Pierce for the Daily Mail

Home Secretary Priti Patel is incandescent. ‘They are trying to silence me because I don’t conform to their version of what it is to be an ethnic minority,’ she seethes. ‘They think they have a licence to speak for everybody from an ethnic minority community.

‘That is not the case. It is simply not the case. We’re all different. We’re all individuals. What they are saying is racist in itself, and I don’t think we should lose sight of that.’

‘They’ are the 31 MPs — ‘Left of Left of the Labour Party more associated with Jeremy Corbyn,’ says Priti — who have sent a vile letter accusing her of ‘gaslighting’ others from minority communities after she spoke about her own experience of racism earlier this week.

Priti, the daughter of Ugandan Asian immigrants, had been defending herself in the Commons on Monday against suggestions by Labour MPs that she did not ‘understand racial equality’ in light of the Black Lives Matter protests.

For this vocal supporter of the late Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, it was her ‘the-lady-is-not-for-turning’ moment. Priti’s words, spoken clearly and calmly at the Despatch Box, were devastating in their emotional impact.

‘It must have been a very different Home Secretary who, as a child, was frequently called a Paki in the playground,’ she fired back. ‘A very different Home Secretary who was racially abused in the streets or even advised to drop her surname and use her husband’s in order to advance her career.

‘A different Home Secretary recently characterised . . . in The Guardian newspaper as a fat cow with a ring thrtough its nose — something that was not only racist but offensive, both culturally and religiously.’

Priti, 48, carries her Asian ethnicity with pride, not as a weapon. ‘People who know me know that I am a freedom fighter,’ she says. ‘My father always told me: ‘Hold your head up high and go forwards. We live in a great country where we have the freedom to succeed.’

‘Here I am, the most senior woman in the British Government — as Home Secretary not because of privilege, but through sheer hard work, as my parents taught me, and because I had the freedom to succeed.’

It is why Priti has agreed to this exclusive interview. We meet in the Home Office where, in the lift, there is a poster of Sir Robert Peel, who served twice as Prime Minister and is regarded as the father of modern British policing.

His is one of the statues that some Black Lives Matter activists want to ‘topple’.

Add to this the fact that London Mayor Sadiq Khan has, in order to protect them, ordered the boarding up of Sir Winston Churchill’s statue and the Cenotaph, a memorial to those who have given their lives for this country and, well, let’s just say there’s a lot of hand-slamming on the desk during the time we spend together.

‘We should ‘free’ Churchill,’ she says. ‘He is the defender of our democracy and freedom.

‘We have seen the desecration of war memorials [in some violent outbreaks involving a minority of protestors during last weekend’s Black Lives Matter marches], which is thoroughly unacceptable. Now we’re seeing a national hero being boarded up. I think this is a sad reflection on the Mayor of London because had he stood up for the right thing, had he called out the minority who were subversive in a peaceful protest, had he pulled up the thuggery in the right way, we would not be seeing the boarding up of our national hero.’

She slams her hand on the desk.

‘One of Dad’s sayings as I was growing up was: ‘We have freedom because we live in an open, democratic society.’ When we hear the Labour Party being divisive, being hateful — trying to erase the past, which is what, I think, they are trying to do — it incenses me.

‘I haven’t spoken to my dad this week because it’s been quite busy, but I know he would think that Churchill is a hero of our country. He fought against fascism and racism in Britain and Europe and has given us the freedom to live our lives the way we do today.’

What of the other statues that some Black Lives Matter activists are threatening to topple, the men who made their fortunes from the slave trade, for example?

‘We cannot pretend everything that has happened in the past is right, but that doesn’t mean we can erase it. We have to learn from our past and at the same time look forwards.

‘We need our children to understand our past so they are prepared for the future. I can see some [of the Labour MPs] who signed that letter to me have failed to understand that. They seem to think everyone should be trapped in their version of history or hold their views. That is not acceptable.’

In this most unsettling of weeks, Priti Patel is, according to many political pundits, one of the few members of the Cabinet who have stepped up to the plate and ‘shown balls’ as the nation’s history is being literally vandalised in front of our eyes.

She is charming — but steely — just as her political hero Lady Thatcher was, and she is adamant that those who have committed these acts of vandalism and violence will be held to account.

Before our interview she had been in a meeting for more than an hour with police leaders from around the country.

‘Your readers have seen the appalling and sickening scenes of police officers being assaulted and abused day in day out, as we’ve seen peaceful protests subverted by thugs with alternative motivations.’

‘There is a lot of work taking place — gathering of evidence — before we charge people,’ she says.

‘We are still living with a Covid-19 pandemic, so it’s absolutely right to urge people not to go out and protest.

‘Here we are, sitting socially distanced,’ she says, gesturing to the three of us seated two metres apart. ‘There is a severe public health crisis in this country, so I urge people not to attend the protests [this weekend] and stay at home, particularly for the community that is most affected by coronavirus.’

The black community? She nods. ‘We are not like America — absolutely not. Our policing is not like America. We police by consent in this country. The police have operational independence. We are nothing like America.

‘The fact you are sitting here speaking to me, a woman from an Asian minority background, shows we have such great opportunities in this country. We really do.

‘It pains me to hear people talk our country down. If this was a racist country, I would not be sitting where I am. We are a great, great country and we are a world away from where we were 20, 30 or 40 years ago.’

Forty-odd years ago, Priti was that six-year-old child enduring the dreadful taunts of ‘Paki’ in the school playground.

‘Obviously we’re talking a long time ago, but I can still remember the level of hurt and fear.’

Were there tears? She nods. 

‘Yes, I hated it,’ she says. ‘I remember being six or seven years old and wanting to go home for lunch to get away from it. It was just horrible. Real abuse.’

There’s a sadness writ large across Priti’s face as she speaks. ‘My dad decided he wanted to change my school. I never forget my Mum saying: ‘We can change the school but it doesn’t mean things will change dramatically.’

‘My mum and dad were shopkeepers, so we heard all sorts of nasty words and language. They were very different times.’

Priti’s parents, Sushil and Anjana, emigrated to Britain in the late 1960s so her father could study for a degree in mechanical engineering. But their plans were turned upside down when despot President Idi Amin, expelled Uganda’s Asian minority in the early Seventies. 

Suddenly, Priti’s father was forced to give up his education to earn a living and support his parents, brother and sister who fled to England.

‘If you think what the British government did for Ugandan Asians, it’s phenomenal, which is why, in particular sitting here, I feel so strongly about our moral commitment and responsibility to the people of Hong Kong,’ she says. ‘The Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and I are committed to creating a bespoke way for them to come here.’

More than two million of them? She nods. 

‘It speaks again for the values of our country and the open tolerant country we are. Look . . .’ she nods towards two maps of the British Isles on the wall of her office. One is from 2017 and one from 2019.

‘We won a General Election because we focused on levelling up across the country. We want to deliver that and give opportunity to all.’

She speaks with a passion that is borne from her own life experience.

‘Life was hard for my parents — but you just get on with it,’ she says. ‘When my dad gave up his studies, they rented a room from an elderly man who was known to me as Uncle Fred, in Finsbury Park [North London].

‘My dad bought a shop for his own parents and then he bought his own shop — a newsagent’s.

‘From there, we went to Norfolk, where he bought a post office and a grocery shop. I saw my mum and dad working so hard, seven days a week around the clock — early mornings, late nights — and enduring people being insensitive. I remember it fully.’

Again, there is sadness evident on her face.

‘We lived above the shop and I saw them sweat it out. They made sacrifices and just worked hard — huge long hours,’ she says.

Priti worked hard, too. She attended an all-girls ethnically mixed comprehensive school where she became head girl before becoming the first in her family to graduate from university.

‘I don’t think I had an ambition growing up,’ she says.

‘I’m very close to my family. My dad taught me book-keeping. He used to show me the VAT returns. After his father passed away, I remember him telling me that if anything happened to him, it was my responsibility to keep a roof over my mum’s head and look after my brothers and sisters.’ 

She tells me she has one of each and her face softens when she speaks of her family, which includes her husband, Alex Sawyer, and their son.

She and Alex met through politics, working together on a by‑election campaign. They married in 2004 at a register office, followed by a Hindu ceremony.

‘My husband is a Christian but he’s not overtly religious,’ she says. ‘He doesn’t really see colour and never has done.

 ‘My parents taught me to get on with everyone. My dad — love him to bits — has always been one of those to integrate into society and become part of the community.

‘Before standing as an MP, I worked in consultancy for big multi-national companies. I don’t see barriers in people. That’s how we live our lives, that’s how we bring up our son.

‘My family are international. We don’t see colour, gender, race or stereotype. That is part of my motivation for becoming a Member of Parliament: I am not a stereotype. The Labour Party does not speak for me. I will not be defined by the Left because I am from an ethnic community.

‘I was born in this country. I was brought up in this country. I’ve had equal opportunities. I didn’t go to the most glamorous of schools, but I worked hard and went to university. That’s intrinsic to who I am.’

She pauses for a moment, then shakes her head. ‘Do you know my first experience of sexism and racism [since becoming an MP] has come now?’ she says.

‘That cartoon in The Guardian [depicting Priti as a cow and Boris Johnson as a bull when he defended her in the Commons] was beyond offensive from a cultural perspective. It’s no secret I’m a Hindu, so from a religious perspective it’s just offensive. It was awful — very, very upsetting.’

Her jaw tightens.

‘When I hear what I did in the Commons this week or read what I read in that letter, I fear we are returning to some of the most ugly and divisive aspects of hateful politics.

‘But I will not be silenced.’