Republic has responded to the Met police statement about recent arrests.

Graham Smith said:

“They have referred to six arrests. Eight members of our team were arrested on Saturday and we’re urgently seeking clarification.”

“They claim the arresting officers did not know we had been talking to other officers in the run up to the coronation. This is not true. I told them and named the officer we had been meeting. The arresting officer was not interested and said having meetings makes no difference.”

“They claim we were in possession of items which gave them reasonable grounds to believe we would ‘lock on’. This is untrue. We made it clear the purpose of the luggage straps, and as they are easily adjusted in length it is not possible to use them to lock on.”

“Their remark that they didn’t prevent all protest is disingenuous. They prevented all protest by those arrested and seriously disrupted our planned peaceful protest.”

“Their actions will have a chilling effect on peaceful protest and have shattered any trust that may have existed between the police and protesters.”

“We will be taking this further.”