SNP MPs have condemned the arrest of multiple anti-monarchy protesters in London on the day of King Charles’s Coronation.
The party’s Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, called it “deeply disturbing”.
Just after 7am on Saturday, footage of Republic chief executive Graham Smith was posted on Twitter which showed him among the demonstrators apprehended on St Martin’s Lane near Trafalgar Square.
In one video an officer said: “I’m not going to get into a conversation about that, they are under arrest, end of.”
Just Stop Oil told the PA news agency approximately 13 protesters were arrested on the Mall ahead of the coronation.
A spokeswoman for the campaign group said five demonstrators were also arrested at Downing Street and one at Piccadilly.
Footage from the Mall showed the Just Stop Oil protesters being handcuffed and taken away by a heavy police presence.
Flynn condemned the police arrests. He said: “Deeply disturbing and clarity urgently required.
“The right to peaceful protest is non-negotiable, irrespective of whom you are protesting.”
SNP MP Joanna Cherry wrote: “This is not on. As the @HumanRightsCtte has repeatedly emphasised the state has a positive obligation to facilitate the right to peaceful protest. I shall be taking this up in parliament.”
Her thoughts were echoed by fellow SNP MP Chris Law who described the scenes as an “utter disgrace”.
He added: “Arresting peaceful protesters will only backfire and will further the decline of support for the monarchy.”
MP Tommy Sheppard said it was “outrageous”. He told The National: “It seems England is now a country where the freedom to protest peacefully has ended.
“People here should pledge our solidarity with those arrested in London today.”
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