Violence erupts at St George's Day event as men wearing England flags clash with police

Violence erupted at a St George’s Day event in central London on Tuesday afternoon, the Metropolitan Police said.

Mounted officers on horses had to intervene after a group broke through a police cordon formed to stop people who had moved past an area in Richmond Terrace in Whitehall, which was allocated for the event.

The force posted on X, formerly Twitter, earlier in the day to say they expected “far-right groups and groups linked to football clubs” to attend the event.

Six people have been arrested at the St George’s Day event held in Whitehall.

Videos posted on social media show disorder breaking out and people being detained by officers at the event, which was attended by Tommy Robinson, who was one of the speakers.

The Metropolitan Police later shared a video on X that appears to show officers forming a cordon but the group, some waving flags and others wearing St George’s flags, are seen pushing past it before two mounted officers on horses intervene.

The Metropolitan Police posted the video just after 2pm on Tuesday along with the message: “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.”

Whitehall had to close to traffic while police officers dealt with the incident.

Another earlier post from police said a number of people had been seen in the area wearing masks, and a Section 60AA order is in force in the boroughs of Lambeth and Westminster “giving officers the power to require the removal of face coverings”.

A Section 60 order, giving officers additional search powers, is also in force in the same area to prevent crime and disorder, the force added.

After the incident, a group gathered on Whitehall opposite Downing Street where there was also a large police presence.

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