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I’m not exactly sure how it happened, but a large and shouty group of ‘right' managed to get into the top of Whitehall, blocking the ‘left’ from being able to leave.

Police lines formed and tried to keep everyone apart. Horse moved in and the odd scuffle broke out. Bottles were thrown. I also saw two fireworks thrown into the crowd.

My observations about the policing:

- There were not enough police on the ground to set up effective police lines with zones of separation. The lines were razor thin and made it impossible for the police to push either side away from each other.

- It could have been much more violent had people not had a certain amount of self restraint. The police wouldn't have been able to stop it.

- The police completely failed to keep the protests away from each other.

- When lines did form, they often separated people who belonged to the same group.

#London #Protest