Britain’s most senior police officer has defended the arrest of six anti-monarchy protesters and hit out at “ill-informed commentary” amid fierce criticism of the action taken.
Writing for the Evening Standard, Metropolitan Police chief Sir Mark Rowley said it was “unfortunate” that the demonstrators were unable to join fellow activists on Saturday following their detention.
The six were the first arrests to be made under the sweeping Public Order Act, under suspicion of going equipped to “lock-on” – a measure protesters use to make it harder for police to move them.
