London Anti-Austerity Protest Turns Nasty

Vandals sparked outrage by daubing graffiti on a statue commemorating the role of women in World War Two during a celebration to mark the 70th anniversary of VE Day.

The graffiti - which read "F*** Tory scum" - was sprayed onto a statue by protesters as they marched on Downing Street.Police said they attended an "unplanned anti-austerity protest" on Whitehall on Saturday afternoon as demonstrators reacted to the Conservatives' shock election victory.

Dozens of activists chanted "get the Tories out" as Whitehall was shut for several hours during the demonstration on Saturday afternoon.The spray-painted message sparked fury online as people made their way to a star-studded 1940s-themed concert hosted by the Royal British Legion.


Whitehall protest: Activists outside Downing Street on Saturday (Picture: Twitter/@nickhaley)

One person tweeted: "Can't believe the protesters in London have sprayed graffiti on a World War II Memorial to Women."

Another, Karen Kilby, wrote: "How can you possibly think it's ok to graffiti a memorial."

Another Twitter user posted that "defacing war memorials is indefensible", while Alison Parr said: "I can't stand Tory cut backs etc..but someone at the demonstration sprayed graffiti on the Memorial. That's bad".

The image began circulating online as hundreds of anti-austerity protesters clashed with police outside the gates of Downing Street.



Activists complained of being "kettled" by police during the demonstration in the lead-up to tonight's concert, which will be broadcast on BBC One and Radio 2.

Stars including Katherine Jenkins, Pixie Lott and Status Quo are among those set to perform at the concert, organised by the Royal British Legion, at Horse Guards Parade.

A Met Police spokesman said there were no arrests so far at today's demonstration.



He added: "Officers are working to minimise disruption to all road users and members of the public passing through the area."

It is unclear who the protest was organised by.



One planned march on Downing Street, which was set to be attended by thousands of campaigners, was said to have been cancelled after David Cameron's Conservatives swept to a majority in Thursday's election.

The protest, organised by anti-austerity group The People's Assembly, had been planned to oust the Prime Minister amid claims the Tories were planning to "occupy Downing Street" even if they did not win a majority.

Its Facebook page attracted more than 16,000 planned attendees, and claimed that the Conservatives were "planning to declare that they are the legitimate government and have the right to form an administration".

But in the wake of Thursday's shock election result, the event was apparently cancelled as questions of the Conservatives' right to remain in power were dispelled when the party won a narrow Commons majority.

Typical lefties. Another reason I am glad the conservatives won is because it pisses these people off.

That's not fair to say. I don't agree with what they're doing, and I'm a lefty.

Why would you want to piss people off? Immature and pathetic tbh. You're as bad as them.

Bit stupid tbh. Why protest now?

The intolerant left.

The trouble with trying to 'get tories out', you've got three parties without a leader and an electoral system that will probably turn out the same result. It's only two days later - I severely doubt the electorate will sway that much.

That's not fair to say. I don't agree with what they're doing, and I'm a lefty.

Why would you want to piss people off? Immature and pathetic tbh. You're as bad as them.

Don't agree with the government's actions and want to protest? Fair enough.

Want to become vandals about it and deface monuments? No.

You should know they don't care about the electorate: what they want is 'real democracy', meaning the people they want to be in power being in power.

What about injuring 'working people.'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/11595097/Police-officer-injured-as-anti-Tory-protesters-gather-outside-Downing-Street-and-Whitehall.html

Clearly a no too

I don't know why people feel that violence will make their point more stronger or valid. It only gets rational-minded people thinking that you're a buffoon who has to use his fists instead of forming logical arguments over why government cuts are bad.