London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 01, 2025

Britain’s political police-state

Britain’s political police-state

Extinction Rebellion activists have protested at the Cenotaph – days after police prevented veterans paying tribute there.

In the UK, authoritarian lockdown rules mean it is currently illegal to gather outside with more than one person from another household.

Accordingly, this year’s Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph was scaled back, with the event closed to the public for the first time. People were discouraged from gathering not only at the monument, but also at public commemorations across the country. Many people were denied the ability to pay tribute publicly to fallen soldiers in the usual way.

And yet, today, on Remembrance Day, Extinction Rebellion protesters rocked up and placed a wreath on the Cenotaph with the words ‘climate change means war’ and ‘act now’ on it. They also unfurled a banner with a similar message: ‘Honour their sacrifice, climate change means war.’


There is much to be said against the protest itself, which was deeply distasteful and will probably turn out to be yet another PR disaster for the hapless XR. But more concerning is what this tells us about Britain’s Covid police state.

It seems that the police treat protesters differently according to the cause they support. Last week, police took a zero-tolerance approach to anti-lockdown protesters, making over 100 arrests. Back in August, lockdown-sceptic Piers Corbyn was handed a £10,000 fine for organising a protest. But not all protesters are punished. In June, when Black Lives Matter protesters broke the lockdown, police supported the protests by ‘taking the knee’ in front of them.

Will the XR Cenotaph protesters meet the same fate as those protesting against Covid restrictions? It seems doubtful. It took the police nearly two hours just to remove the XR wreath from the Cenotaph.

Of course, those of us who believe in free speech and civil liberties do not want anyone to be prevented from attending a protest or to be punished for demonstrating. But the inconsistency is glaring.

As radio presenter Alex Belfield has pointed out, XR were able to protest at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Day, despite the fact that police lines prevented veterans accessing it on Remembrance Sunday. Apparently, it is fine to head to the Cenotaph if you want to make a statement about the environment, but not if you want to commemorate the past.

This is the country we live in: a state where Covid means protesting is banned, unless it’s the right kind of protest, in which case the police will turn a blind eye or even endorse it.

Our police have become politicised – and that is a grave threat to our democratic rights.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
×