Palestine protest London: Hundreds block Westminster Bridge in first major demonstration of the year

Pro-Palestine protesters have staged a sit-in at Westminster Bridge in their first major demonstration of the new year. Hundreds of protesters blocked off the bridge and surrounding roads following a march from London’s St James’s Park today (Saturday 6 January).

The demonstration is organised by the Free Palestine Coalition amid renewed calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. It is also calling for the UK to stop arms sales to Israel and an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

The group announced a meeting location, a drinking fountain in St James’s Park, at 10am on Saturday and protesters began to gather around midday. Several arrests were initially made by Metropolitan Police officers at the park with protesters then marching through Westminster before being stopped by officers next to Big Ben.

Many of the protesters then gradually joined a sit-in that was fenced off on three sides by a police cordon. Other protesters wore face masks of leading politicians, including prime minister Rishi Sunak and US President Joe Biden, and held up hands covered in red paint.

In a social media post on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, the Metropolitan Police said at 3:30pm: “All protesters have now left the area around Westminster Bridge. Officers remain on-duty in central London and are ready to respond to any further demonstrations.”