Anger over Met protest arrests

■ THE actions of the police in central London on Saturday should be of great concern to everyone. More than 50 arrests were made for very flimsy reasons.

The leader of Republic, Graham Smith, was arrested at around 7.30am along with other members of the group, despite having previously liaised with the police.

This was three hours before the commencement of any pageantry.

These heavy-handed police tactics seriously infringe our basic human rights and are not acceptable in any democracy. Just three weeks ago Russian journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza was jailed for 25 years for criticising Putin. Is Britain moving the same way?

There must be an official inquiry to ascertain whether the Home Office ordered these arrests.

John Mayor, Morecambe, Lancs

■ All the hypocritical rent-a-crowd protesters and attention-seekers who demonstrated during the King’s Coronation – ignoring clear warnings from the Met Police over the consequences of disrupting events – are now in uproar over their treatment after being locked up for a few hours.

Some have likened the police reaction to Putin’s Russia, but if they lived under such a regime they would have been detained without any media attention and locked up without a fair trial.

Neil Atherton, St Helens Merseyside

■ I’m in my late seventies and I don’t much see the point of a monarchy. What I do see is the immense difference between them and us. The huge costs spent on the Coronation at a time of austerity for everyone else makes my blood boil.

Then peaceful protestors were arrested in a shameful display by the Met Police. I used to be proud to be British. Sadly not any more.

Most of the guests at this lavish event would have had no idea how the rest of us struggle – and care even less.

Guy Middlewood, York

■ Regarding the arrest of protesters, alas, if you are shouting and making nuisances of yourselves and stopping people’s enjoyment of a state occasion you only bring it on yourself.

Yes, people have a right to protest but they are in a massive minority because the bulk of the population like the royals. I don’t care how much of my well-earned money goes to keeping them.

Fred Wilde, Manchester

■ The arrests by the Met of people protesting peacefully during the Coronation comes after the antiunion laws, the right to strike restrictions and the new voter ID rules the Tories have put in place. All of these measures are destroying our democracy.

In my opinion, we are heading towards becoming a dictatorship or a police state.

J Randall, Leeds

■ The police can’t win. If the protesters had caused havoc and got away with it, the Met would have been called out for being in the wrong.

As far as I’m concerned, they were right to arrest them.

It’s time law and order was enforced in this country.

Janet Jackson, Poole, Dorset

■ Maybe I’m in a minority, but to me the Coronation was a complete waste of public funds and the Conservatives passing laws to stop protesters is bang out of order.

As a democratic country, we have the right to protest.

I have not and will never pledge my allegiance to the King, either.