Pro-Palestine protesters caused the closure of Tower Bridge to both cars and pedestrians, leading to police intervention.
Activists were observed igniting flares and displaying Palestinian flags, while urging for a cessation of the ongoing conflict in Gaza, as shown in videos on social media. The City of London police closed the landmark at around 5:30pm on Saturday and reopened it about an hour later.
The City of London police reported on X that Tower Bridge is currently shut down because of a protest. Police are currently present at the location.
The police department stated: “The protest is over and Tower Bridge is now open again as of 6:25pm. Thank you to @metpoliceuk for their help.”
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign recently spoke out in support of the right to lobby MPs with a large group. Director Ben Jamal condemned the fact that thousands of people were not allowed into parliament on Wednesday as they tried to persuade MPs to vote for a ceasefire in Gaza.
On Friday, The Times stated that Jamal spoke to a gathering of protestors leading up to Wednesday’s demonstration: “We desire for such a multitude of you to attend that the doors of parliament will have to be sealed shut.”
Jamal stated that over 80,000 individuals sent emails to their MPs before the ceasefire discussion. Additionally, more than 3,000 people from various parts of the UK personally met with their MPs to lobby, making it one of the biggest physical lobbies in parliament’s history.
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Unfortunately, many people were not allowed to enter and instead had to wait in line for more than four hours in the rain. This was due to new restrictions put in place to reduce the number of individuals who could have in-person meetings with their MPs.
“We have received reports stating that the safety of MPs was used as a reason for the speaker to deviate from regular Commons procedures and allow the Labour amendment to be heard.”
The matter of protecting MPs is a significant one, but it should not be used as an excuse to protect them from being held accountable in a democratic system.
Source: theguardian.com
