| COVID-19 anti-lockdown protests in the United Kingdom | |
|---|---|
| Part ofprotests over responses to the COVID-19 pandemic | |
.jpg) Anti-lockdown protest march in London, April 2021 | |
| Date | 20 April 2020 – 18 March 2022 (1 year, 10 months, 3 weeks and 5 days) |
| Location | United Kingdom, particularly London |
| Caused by |
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| Goals |
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| Methods | |
| Status | End of protest;
|
| Casualties | |
| Injuries | 12+[citation needed] |
| Arrested | 400+[citation needed] |
During theCOVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, numerousprotests took place over thegovernment's response.
Anti-lockdown protests took place in opposition torestrictions, starting in April 2020 against the firstnational lockdown, and continuing during subsequent lockdowns and other regional restriction systems. These overlapped withanti-vaccination protests, which continued after the start of theUK's vaccination programme in December 2020. Several media outlets blamed onlineCOVID-19 misinformation,denialism andconspiracy theories as driving factors in the protest movement.[2][3][4][5][6]The Economist described the protests as "countercultural" and attracting people from a variety of demographics and political leanings.[7] Hundreds of protesters have been arrested for violating lockdown restrictions,social distancing measures and otherpublic health laws.[8]
Unrelated protests were held by or in support ofNational Health Service staff involved in the frontline health response to demand for pay rises and improved working conditions.
The UK's first case ofCOVID-19 was confirmed on 31 January 2020.[9] As the number of cases and deaths increased in the subsequent few months, the government enactedemergency powers on 19 March to introduce public health measures in an effort to control the spread of the virus. On 23 March, with the death toll increasing and UK's hospital capacity at risk of being reached, Prime MinisterBoris Johnson announced the first of three nationwidelockdowns orstay-at-home orders[10] in response to rising daily cases, hospitalisations and deaths.[11] After the first nationwide lockdown ended, the government introducedlocalised tier regulations in England in areas with higher rates of COVID-19 infection andmandated face masks in certain settings across the country. Asecond national lockdown began in November 2020, ending in early December and being replaced withtiered regulations. Due to rapidly increasing cases, athird national lockdown began in January 2021, and began to be eased in March 2021. Additional restrictions across the UK includesocial distancing measures andface masks being mandatory in certain settings.
With health beingdevolved between the nations of the United Kingdom, authorities inEngland,Wales,Scotland andNorthern Ireland have also introduced localised restrictions, including lockdowns, at different times throughout the pandemic.[citation needed]
On 20 April, two anti-lockdown protesters had a stand-off with police on the roof ofShrewsbury College; they were then arrested.[12]On both 25 April and 1 May,Piers Corbyn was present at an anti-lockdown protest inGlastonbury.[13] On 25 April, Corbyn made a speech to the 30 to 100 other protesters, where hedenied the pandemic was occurring, and criticised public health measures. A police spokesperson said they encouraged protesters to adhere to social distancing guidance, and that the protest ended within an hour.[14]
A group of around 20 people, which included some young children, held a peaceful protest and defied social distancing rules outsideNew Scotland Yard on 2 May.[15] Another protest was held by a group of between 40 and 50 people onLambeth Walk, nearWestminster Bridge, on 9 May. A number of people were arrested and fixed penalty notices were issued by the police.[16]
Protests against the United Kingdom's COVID-19 lockdown, to be held across the country in the weekend of 16 May, in cities such asManchester,Bristol,Leicester andSouthampton, were advertised online, produced by the UK Freedom Movement, an online group.[17] On 15 May, former leader of the far-right groupBritain FirstJayda Fransen was associated with that apparent anti-lockdown movement circulating online due to her registration as director of Freedom Movement Ltd withCompanies House,[18][19] but Fransen has denied any involvement.[20][19] On Saturday, 16 May, 50 anti-lockdown andanti-vax protesters defied social-distancing rules atSpeakers' Corner inHyde Park, includingPiers Corbyn. There were further smaller protests on the same day in Manchester,Glasgow,Belfast and other cities across the country.[citation needed]
A small anti-lockdown protest took place alongHove seafront on 18 May.[21] A protest the next day was held atHampstead Heath, who demanded the reopening of its ponds as council had refused to reopen them.[22] This was followed by another protest on 23 May that was held onClapham Common, with around 20 protesters calling for the lockdown to come to end and for children to only return to school if there is "no social distancing".[23] Another protest was held at Hyde Park on 30 May.[24][25][26]
On 8 August 2020, more than 30 protests across the UK took place in support ofNational Health Service staff in response to the government not extending a planned pay rise to nurses.[27][28]
Thousands gathered in London'sTrafalgar Square on 29 August as a part of the Unite for Freedom movement to protest against lockdown restrictions and the possibility of a mandatory vaccine.[29] Prominent speakers included the conspiracy theoristsKate Shemirani,Piers Corbyn andDavid Icke. A flyer for the event focused on the extension of what Unite for Freedom deem a "draconian extension of controls" over the population.[30][31][32]
On 12 September, a group of anti-lockdown protesters gathered inBirmingham following the announcement the previous day that Birmingham, and the nearby boroughs ofSolihull andSandwell would be subject to increased restrictions due to a rise in cases in the area.[33]
On the same day, NHS nurses protested inTrafalgar Square to demand a pay rise during the ongoing pandemic response.[34]
On 26 September, a protest was held at Trafalgar Square, London. Prominent speakers were Corbyn, Icke, Gareth Icke (David Icke's son) and others. One speaker, Daz Nez, sang a song with themes about theNew World Order, anti-vaccines, anti-corporation, anti-government, anti-monarchy and anti-lockdown. The protest resulted in three protesters and nine police officers being injured. Sixteen people were arrested.[35][36][37]
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On 17 October, an anti-lockdown protest took place atLeicester Square.[38] A similar protest happened in Clayton Square,Liverpool city centre, the following day.[39]
On 24 October, an anti-lockdown protest was held by Save Our Rights UK using the slogan "Stop The New Normal" in London. After marching from Hyde Park toWestminster, the protest ended in Trafalgar Square. Key speakers were Louise Creffield and Piers Corbyn.[40] Shortly before 4 pm, the police decided to break up the protest because the protesters "failed to comply with the terms of their risk assessment, government guidelines and were not maintaining social distancing". The police officer in charge "determined their protest is no longer exempt from the regulations and is an illegal gathering". The police arrested at least 18 people during the protest.[41][42]
Richard Tice, chairman of theBrexit Party, and a few dozen others led a small protest at an official wreath-laying ceremony at theRoyal Artillery Memorial onHyde Park Corner on Remembrance Sunday in defiance of regulations.[43]
On 28 November anti-lockdown demonstrators marched through London chanting "freedom", in a day of protests that resulted in more than 60 arrests.[44] The protesters were joined by groupsopposing theCOVID-19 vaccine.[45]
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On 9 January, police arrested 12 people at a protest inClapham Common.[46] On the same day there were arrests of inBournemouth linked with the anti-lockdown movement.[47]
Facebook removed videos published by a “coronavirus denier” as it was ruled that they posed a danger of “imminent physical harm”.[48] The video appeared to show empty hospital corridors suggesting that the covid pandemic was not affecting hospitals as much as the government had been suggesting. The hospitals show in the video were theQueen Alexandra Hospital andSt Richard's Hospital. The hospitals responded to stress that "pictures of empty corridors do not mean our wards and intensive care units are empty."[49][50][relevant?]
On 20 March, up to 30,000 people gathered in central London, walking fromHyde Park toWestminster. Although the protest was largely in relation to the government's stance onpeaceful protests during lockdown, many were seen carrying anti-lockdown placards with slogans such as "Stop Destroying Our Kids’ Lives" and chanted for restrictions to be lifted. A number of arrests were made, predominantly in relation to breaches of COVID-19 regulations.[51][8]
On 27 March, some 400 people gathered inCentenary Square, Bradford, to protest against COVID restrictions and vaccinations. Nine police officers were injured. Although mostly peaceful, some attempted to storm Jacob's Well pub which was being used as a vaccination centre.[52]
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Some thousands of protesters marched through central London on 24 April, with chants including "freedom" and "take off your mask".[53] Reuters reported media estimates of an attendance of about 10,000, but the Metropolitan Police did not confirm a figure.[53] In disturbances after the march, eight police officers were injured and five people were arrested.[54] Candidates in the2021 London mayoral electionPiers Corbyn andLaurence Fox attended the march.[citation needed]
On the 15th of May, thousands of anti-lockdown protesters marched fromSt James's Park to theBBC Headquarters inCentral London[55]
Thousands of protesters gathered in Central London on 29 May to protest against theCOVID-19 vaccination rollout and public health restrictions includinglockdowns andvaccine passports.[56][57] Numerous demonstrations took place across the day in the city and were largely peaceful, including a march of hundreds of thousands of people which started atParliament Square and reached as far west asActon.[58][56] A smaller group enteredWestfield Shopping Centre inShepherd's Bush in the early evening, clashing with police and forcing the centre to close early.[59][60]
Thousands[61] of protesters assembled inHyde Park on 26 June and protested downOxford Street andPiccadilly Circus, ending up outside the gates of10 Downing Street.[62] The march included many chants and taunts against health secretaryMatt Hancock, who had been involved in an affair-scandal days prior to the protest, and his resignation happened to be announced towards the end of the day. Many protesters threw tennis balls with messages over the perimeter of 10 Downing Street.[63]
On 26 June, group of protesters gathered outside the home of Chief Medical OfficerChris Whitty, shouting "murderer" and "traitor" through megaphones. After Whitty was accosted in a public park the following day, the fourth harassment incident against him in recent months, it was announced he would be granted greater state protection. Prime MinisterJohnson, Home SecretaryPriti Patel, Health SecretarySajid Javid and Vaccines MinisterNadhim Zahawi condemned the harassment.[64][7]
Protests took place across the UK on 3 July 2021 to mark the 73rd anniversary of the NHS. NHS staff and activists demanded greater funding, wage increases and staffing, better working conditions and to end proposed privatisation of the service.[65]
On 19 July, the day that most COVID-19 restrictions were lifted by the government, anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine protests took place inWestminster. Protesters threw bottles at police and 11 people were arrested.[66][67]
On the weekend of 24–25 July 2021, protests broke out again in major cities in the United Kingdom such as London,[68]Leeds,[69] Manchester,[70] and Birmingham, due to peopleopposing vaccines, and proposedCOVID passports.[71] The London event featured a gathering at Trafalgar Square with a large screen, and speeches from David Icke, Piers Corbyn, Louise Hampton, Gareth Icke,Gillian McKeith,Vernon Coleman,Katie Hopkins,Mark Steele andDavid Kurten.[72][73][74][75]
Hundreds of anti-vaccine protesters attempted to stormTelevision Centre, London on 9 August in opposition to coverage of the pandemic byBBC News. The protesters were reported to have mistaken the building as the headquarters of the BBC, although the corporation's operations had moved out of the building in 2013.ITV'sLoose Women was being broadcast in the building at the time, although the protests did not disrupt this. Protesters clashed with police and a police helicopter was dispatched.[76][77]
Thousands of protesters gathered in London on 18 December, many of whom opposed the introduction of vaccination passports for large venues in response to the highly contagiousOmicron variant spreading across the UK. Police officers reported having beer cans and flares thrown at them during this protest.[78]
On 29 December, protesters inMilton Keynes stormed and vandalized an NHS COVID-19 testing centre, and disrupted a pantomime performance ofJack and the Beanstalk.[79]
On 7 February, while Labour leaderKeir Starmer and his colleagueDavid Lammy were leaving Parliament, they were ambushed by a group of anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine protesters who shouted abuse at Starmer including the words "traitor" and "Jimmy Savile"; the latter followed Prime MinisterBoris Johnson's attempt in parliament (on 31 January) to falsely blame Starmer for the non-prosecution of serial sex offenderJimmy Savile when Starmer wasDirector of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in theCrown Prosecution Service (CPS). Two people, a man and a woman, were arrested after atraffic cone was thrown at police officers. Johnson tweeted that it was "absolutely disgraceful" and thanked the police for acting swiftly.[80]
Shayan Sardarizadeh forBBC Monitoring said that the protest was an attempt to recreate theOttawa "freedom convoy" protests in the UK, and noted that the activists' references toMagna Carta indicated that the protesters were members of thesovereign citizen movement,[80] which Tim Hume inVice UK says "has become a key strand of the UK's anti-lockdown movement".[81]Julian Smith, the former chiefwhip, andSimon Hoare were among Conservatives who called for Johnson to apologise. MPKim Leadbeater and Brendan Cox, the sister and husband of murdered MPJo Cox, warned against politicians lending credence to far-right conspiracy theories.[82][83] The following day, a Downing Street source said that Johnson still would not apologise for the slur against Starmer.[84]
On 18 March 2022, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson lifted most of the COVID measures after two years in place.[85]
Protests atsecondary schools were conducted in the summer of 2021, particularly by artist Remeece performing his "Dont Tek Di Vaccine" rap song on a portable speaker to children as they left school for the day.[86] These sparkedPriti Patel to consider a ban which could be enforced by local councils.[87]
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