SADLY THE MEDIA HAVE ALREADY STARTED
Tensions flare as far-right thugs and football hooligans hurl beer cans and front up to riot police at Cenotaph as pro-statue activists surround Churchill memorial after BLM called for it to be removed
Imarn Ayton said statue to anyone, including wartime PM, who has made racist comments belongs in museum
Hooligan groups raised a call to arms this morning for supporters to flock to the capital during BLM protests
Paul Golding, the leader of far-right group Britain First, was pictured at the Cenotaph this morning
Scotland Yard has imposed a 5pm curfew on the demonstration and warned its officers will make arrests
Police are desperate to keep control of London's streets after last weekend's peaceful protest was hijacked
By JACK ELSOM FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 08:10 BST, 13 June 2020 | UPDATED: 12:19 BST, 13 June 2020
Hundreds of far-right thugs and hooligans have rushed up to the police blockade outside the Cenotaph - as tensions threaten to boil over as today's Black Lives Matter rally is met by a fierce counter-protest.
Riot squads armed with batons and shields are holding the line in the middle of Westminster to separate the two groups.
Crowds of pro-statue campaigners, some dressed in military uniform, have surrounded the monument of Winston Churchill, which has been boarded up by Sadiq Khan for fear of it becoming a 'flashpoint' of far-right violence.
From Parliament Square, louts were seen marching down Whitehall right up to the police barrier - which some tried to clamber over.
Louts were seen goading constables, while a few cans were lobbed over the barriers as the crowd sang out football chants.
Many remained to guard the statue, which earlier today a senior Black Lives Matter organiser earlier said should be removed.
Imarn Ayton, 29, a figurehead of the movement who has given speeches alongside Star Wars actor John Boyega, said a monument to anyone who has made racist comments - including the wartime PM - is offensive and belongs in a museum.
But she urged campaigners to stay off the streets of London to prevent rallies exploding into a 'race war' against the far-right, who are among those trooping to the capital to defend targeted sculptures.
Paul Golding, the leader of far-right group Britain First, was pictured at the Cenotaph this morning wearing a top emblazoned with the words 'white lives matter'.
Yet Mayor of London Sadiq Khan today defended his decision to board up monuments in Westminster by pointing to possible violence from far-right groups.
He told Radio 4's Today programme this morning: 'We have intelligence that extreme far-right groups are coming to London, they say to protect the statues but we think these statues could become a flash point for violence.
'And we are worried in far-right groups getting involved in violence, vandalism and disorder with those protesting as part of the BLM movement.
'And that's one of the reasons why I'm asking people to stay away from central London.'
Police are still bracing for large crowds to take to the streets, as they did yesterday in Trafalgar Square despite pleas from Boris Johnson not to attend for fear of spreading coronavirus.
Scotland Yard is desperate to keep control of London after last weekend's largely peaceful protest was hijacked by pockets of violence, which targeted constables.
Police chiefs have imposed a 5pm curfew on the demonstration and warned that officers are ready to make arrests.
Rallies are also planned in other cities across the UK, including Newcastle, Liverpool, Southport, Tamworth, Shrewsbury, Barry, Reading, Slough, Croydon, Chelmsford, Kings Lynn and Hemel Hempstead.
In further developments:
