Anti-vax mob hurls red paint at Downing Street and chants ‘arrest Boris’

The demonstration is the latest anti-science reaction to efforts to fight the spread of Covid-19 (Picture: Rex/Reuters)

Anti-vaxxer protesters calling leading scientists and ministers ‘murderers’ and ‘monsters’ marched through London yesterday. 

A crowd of a few thousands called for figures like Boris Johnson and Chris Whitty to be arrested as they made their way to Downing Street carrying flares and banners.

The angry mob threw red paint at Downing Street, covering at least one police officer in the process.

Demonstrations opposing established science on Covid-19 have been frequent this summer, with the latest apparently spurred on by the decision to offer vaccines to younger teenagers.

12 to 15-year-olds will now be able to get inoculated to help prevent the virus spreading in classrooms.

The march made its way through the Euston area towards the West End, before heading through Oxford Street and Trafalgar Square and onto Whitehall.

Two people were arrested for criminal damage and affray once it reached Downing Street.

Yet another anti-science protest has descended on central London (Picture: SOPA/REX/Shutterstock)

This week’s demonstration was apparently in response to the decision to offer vaccines to 12 to 15-year-olds (Picture: SOPA/REX/Shutterstock)

Protesters through red paint at Downing Street, covering at least one officer (Picture: Reuters)

One grinning protester was spotted carrying a placard labelling scientists and politicians ‘monsters’ (Picture: Reuters)

The crowd briefly brought traffic disruption to some of central London’s busiest streets (Picture: Reuters)

Young children being pushed in prams were among those present on the aggressive demonstration.

One of the scientists advising the government on vaccine policy has called for tolerance when it comes to vaccinating children.

Professor Adam Finn, of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), told Times Radio: ‘I’ve had a lot of people contact me with very strong views.

‘Either that they insist that they wish their children to be immunised without delay, or that they would rather die than have their children immunised, so there are plenty of people out there with very strong views, and those could easily translate into quite aggressive attitudes, one way, in one direction or the other.’

He added: ‘Parents who have their children immunised should be tolerant of those that decide not to and vice versa because the stakes are not high on either side.’

Another protester labelled ministers and scientists murderers while pedalling a conspiracy theory (Picture: Reuters)

London has seen repeated anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown protests over the summer (Picture: Reuters)

The movement has repeatedly turned out medium-sized crowds but has failed to win popular support (Picture: Reuters)

Almost 90% of people eligible for a dose of the vaccine have now received one, despite the best efforts of anti-vaxxers (Picture: Reuters)

Parental consent will be sought in the first instance but children are allowed to overrule that decision and reach their own conclusion if they can demonstrate sufficient awareness and intelligence, a well-established medical concept known as Gillick competence.

The jab for teens announcement was one of two major vaccine policy developments this week, alongside the beginning of the boost shot programme.

Data released yesterday confirmed key Covid indicators are back at March levels across the board.

Deaths, hospitalisations and the number of patients on ventilators are all at levels last seen in the winter, with cases remaining persistently high too.

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