A St George’s Day rally in central London has turned violent with police in riot gear clashing with men draped in England flags.
More than a dozen police and officers on horseback jostled with a crowd of men in Whitehall as they burst out of their allocated protest area in Whitehall.
Footage released by Scotland Yard appears to show one man using an umbrella to strike a police horse in the nose just yards from Downing Street.
Nationalists draped in England flags, some carrying roses charged through police lines an hour before the parade was scheduled to start as riot officers tried to hold them back.
The Metropolitan Police posted on X: “The event is not due to start for an hour and regrettably officers are already dealing with disorder. There is an area allocated for this event in Richmond Terrace. This group went past it and continued up Whitehall.
“When officers formed a cordon and asked the group to turn round, they reacted by violently forcing their way through. Mounted officers intervened with horses to restore the cordon.”
They added: “Whitehall has reopened to traffic in both directions following an earlier closure to deal with people trying to move away from the allocated event area. There have been no further incidents since that altercation. There is still a significant police presence.”
Earlier police imposed strict conditions on the parade urging nationalists to stay within an arranged area of Richmond Terrace. They added the event would not be allowed to start before 3pm and must finish by 5pm.
The Met added: “A number of people, have been seen in the area wearing masks.
“A Section 60AA order, giving officers the power to require the removal of face coverings, is now in force in the boroughs of Lambeth and Westminster.”
A Section 60 order, giving officers additional search powers, was also put into force “in the same area to prevent crime and disorder”.
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