Anna Soubry ‘too frightened’ by counter protesters to address anti-Brexit rally

Pro and anti-Brexit protests have taken place on Parliament Square.

Around 200 people joined a pro-Brexit demonstration organised by the Democratic Football Lads Alliance (DFLA) on Parliament Square in Westminster on Saturday morning.

As members of the anti-Brexit group March for Change began to set up for a rally of their own, some members of the DFLA approached and began shouting.

A beer can was thrown towards about 10 people from the March for Change protest, before police on horseback intervened.

Anna Soubry, leader of the Independent Group for Change, said she was too “frightened” to speak at the rally due to counter-protests from the DFLA and left after consulting with the police.

The March for Change event was set to feature several speakers, including Ms Soubry, human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell and Green Party co-leader Sian Berry.

However, shortly before the event Ms Soubry said she was too frightened to speak due to intimidation from the DFLA protest.

She said: ”I don’t know what I’m going to do. It’s awful but there’s also a side of me that thinks that this is our country.

“I’m a parliamentarian and I have a right to speak and I shouldn’t be frightened but it’s very, very, very disturbing, and I’m very frightened actually.”

After consulting with the police and protest organisers, Ms Soubry left the rally, telling officers she did not want to cause additional issues for them as they monitored both events.

Ms Berry praised the work of opposition MPs for proposing and passing a bill to prevent a no-deal Brexit prior to the suspension of parliament.

Speaking at the rally, she said: “They have all worked so hard this week.

“We are here to defend the very core of our society, our democracy.

“We need an end to climate change, we need an end to austerity and we need an end to this Brexit chaos and today we are winning.”

Ms Berry then addressed the pro-Brexit protesters on the other side of Parliament Square.

“That’s why they’re here today, they know they’re losing,” she said.

A blimp in the shape of Boris Johnson had been set to fly at the March for Change, scheduled to begin in London at 2pm.

However after the altercation with the DFLA, March for Change organisers said the blimp would not fly as it was likely to become a target.

Tom Brufatto, one of the directors of the March for Change, said: “We are here to demonstrate peacefully and defend our democracy.

“We have been attacked three times. We respect people’s right to protest but we do not respect people’s rights to intimidate and be aggressive.

“It’s very disappointing that because of the aggression we have received today even before getting started, we have had to send the Boris blimp home because we feared it was going to be used as an excuse for violence against our supporters.

“We hope that despite the disruption that we are still able to prove an interesting and big event for our supporters.”

Across the UK and Europe, 35 other events are being held at the same time, including a pro-democracy protest in Berlin.