Police fought running battles with thousands of rightwing protesters in central London on Saturday, in scenes the home secretary described as “unacceptable thuggery”.
During an afternoon of tense confrontations, rightwing demonstrators threw fire crackers at police in Trafalgar Square after they broke away from a protest in Parliament Square, trying to reach an area reserved for a Black Lives Matter rally. The protesters, including some far-right activists and groups associated with London football clubs, also pelted police officers with bottles.
In a tweet on Saturday evening, Boris Johnson said: “Racist thuggery has no place on our streets. Anyone attacking the police will be met with full force of the law.