Thousands of people who believe is a hoax have gathered in ‘s Trafalgar Square to protest against lockdown restrictions and vaccination programmes.
The ‘Unite for Freedom’ rally started at noon in the capital and calls for an ‘end to Government lies’ and the restoration of all freedoms.
Pictures from the demonstration show a large crowd gathered in the square – none of whom are wearing masks – holding signs that brand the pandemic as a ‘hoax’.
Other signs claimed masks reduce immunity and likened the restrictions to ‘child torture’.
One person held a homemade placard on which he had scrawled ‘no to mandatory vaccines.’
The event is set to march past Downing Street towards the Houses of Parliament where speakers are expected to address the crowd.
The demonstration is one of several taking place around the world under the Unite for Freedom banner.
Berlin police on Saturday disbanded a mass protest in the German capital against coronavirus curbs a few hours after it had begun after marchers failed to heed their orders to keep their distance and wear masks.
The protest came as infections rise across Europe, with similar protests during the day in Paris and elsewhere.
In Denmark, protesters take part in a demonstration against the use of face masks and other Covid-19 related restrictions near the Danish parliament building Christiansborg in Copenhagen.
Across Europe, countries including France, Spain and Italy continue to see increases in the number of coronavirus cases.
Yesterday France added 5,429 cases overnight, government figures showed, marking the country’s largest single-day increase since April 14, and the third-largest daily rise since the pandemic began.
Meanwhile Italy, which had some of the lowest case totals in Europe after reopening its economy, registered 1,367 cases – its largest rise since May.
Spain registered another 7,296 cases, enough to push the country above the US – the world’s worst-affected nation – in number of cases per million inhabitants, based on a seven-day rolling average.
The latest figures show the pandemic has killed at least 842,000 people worldwide since surfacing in China late last year.
In the UK, more than 331,644 people have been infected and 41,486 people have lost their lives to the virus.
