London Pride: Seven arrests as Just Stop Oil protest temporarily halts parade

Seven Just Stop Oil protesters person been arrested portion trying to halt the yearly Pride parade successful cardinal London.

Images connected societal media showed constabulary removing demonstrators who managed to concisely halt the march.

The Metropolitan Police said 7 radical were arrested for nationalist nuisance offences.

Before the parade started, LGBTQ+ Just Stop Oil members called connected Pride to halt accepting sponsorship wealth from "high-polluting industries".

Police said the parade was delayed for astir 17 minutes portion officers dealt with the protesters astatine Piccadilly's junction with Down Street.

BBC Radio London's Rob Oxley said the protesters "sat down successful beforehand of the Coke interval for astir 20 minutes".

"The DJ connected the interval continued to play euphony and the assemblage cheered arsenic they were removed."

It comes aft Just Stop Oil earlier threatened to disrupt the march if the parade did not halt accepting sponsorship wealth from "high-polluting industries".

Before the parade started, LGBTQ+ members of Just Stop Oil called connected organisers to condemn caller oil, state and ember licences.

"These partnerships embarrass the LGBTQ+ assemblage astatine a clip erstwhile overmuch of the taste satellite is rejecting ties to these toxic industries," they said successful a statement.

LGBTQ+ radical are "suffering first" successful the "accelerating societal breakdown" caused by clime change, they added.

Speaking aft the arrests, Will De'Athe-Morris, from Pride successful London said helium did not privation the protestation to overshadow the parade's halfway message.

"Pride is simply a protestation and pridefulness is simply a celebration," helium told the BBC.

"We are protesting for LGBTQ+ rights and for our trans siblings successful a abstracted march alone.

"So for america anyone who tries to disrupt that protestation and parade is truly letting down those radical who usage this abstraction erstwhile a twelvemonth to travel unneurotic to observe and protestation for those rights.

"There are truthful galore much opportunities during the twelvemonth to stock your messages, delight don't effort and rainfall connected this parade.

"We don't privation to spot a time marred successful immoderate mode by radical trying to disrupt it."

Earlier, Sadiq Khan described Just Stop Oil arsenic a "really important unit group" contempt the disruption threats.