Boris Johnson urges public not to break Covid rules by attending Sarah Everard vigils

Downing Street has urged members of the public not to breach lockdown restrictions by attending planned vigils for London woman Sarah Everard, whose body was found in woodland after she disappeared last week.

The Reclaim These Streets events are scheduled to go ahead across the UK on Saturday, including on Clapham Common, which Everard is believed to have walked through before her suspected kidnap and murder.

As well as marking the death of the 33-year-old, the vigils are intended tipped to call for a broader national conversation about the safety of women and girls in public areas.

But organisers have said the Metropolitan Police is trying to ban the London event, citing laws against gathering during the coronavirus lockdown.

Asked whether the prime minister would advise people to steer clear of the event to avoid the risk of spreading Covid-19, Mr Johnson’s official spokesman said: “We must urge people to remember that we are still in a pandemic and ask that they continue to follow the rules.

“We would ask the public to continue to follow social distancing rules, but we do understand the strength of feelings in this case.”

But Mr Johnson shied away from saying the vigils should not go ahead when he appeared before TV cameras on a visit to Northern Ireland, saying only that it was “an operational matter” for police.

The PM added: “Like everybody, I'm shocked and appalled about the news from the Met about Sarah Everard, and I think that the whole country will be united in their feelings for her friends and her family and will share their shock and their grief.

“And I can see, and I can totally understand, why this has triggered such a wave of feeling on this issue of safety of women and the safety of the streets. I want to echo very much what Priti Patel said, which was that no woman should walk our streets in fear, every woman should feel able to walk our streets in safety.”

Scotland’s health secretary, Jeane Freeman, has urged women to find another way to pay tribute to Everard than in-person vigils, saying that attending the gatherings in Edinburgh and Glasgow would breach of Covid restrictions.

She added that she would join commemorations if “we were in normal times”, but that “we’re not in normal times”.

Under lockdown rules currently in place across England, it is against the law to leave your home except for a short list of reasons, including work, education, childcare, exercise or recreation with one other person, compassionate visits, essential activities like buying food and attending support groups of up to 15 people.

Police can issue £200 Fixed Penalty Notices to people meeting in large groups, doubling for further offences up to a maximum of £6,400. Organisers of an illegal gathering can be fined £10,000.

In Scotland, adults can be fined £60 for breaking Covid rules, doubling to £120 for further offences.

However, some human rights lawyers have said coronavirus legislation does not prohibit lawful protest where attendees are mindful of social distancing.

A spokeswoman for the group organising the vigil in London said it plans to appeal to the high court to challenge the Metropolitan Police’s interpretation of coronavirus restrictions with regard to human rights law.

They claimed that while initially the force had appeared supportive of the vigil, they later withdrew their support and warned organisers that they would face fines of tens of thousands of pounds in fixed penalty notices as well as criminal prosecution.

In a statement, Reclaim These Streets said: “The Metropolitan Police said that they were ‘trying to navigate a way through’ and that they were ‘currently developing a local policing plan’ to allow the vigil to take place and to enable them to ‘develop an appropriate and proportionate local response’ to the event.”

But they said that on Thursday, the Metropolitan Police “reversed their position and stated that the vigil would be unlawful, that their ‘hands are tied’ by the Covid-19 regulations and that, as organisers, we could face tens of thousands of pounds in fixed penalty notices and criminal prosecution under the Serious Crimes Act.”

The group added: “We have decided to seek an urgent order from the High Court confirming that the Metropolitan Police’s understanding of the law is wrong.”

The request for an order was expected to be heard on Friday ahead of the planned vigil in the evening. 

The Met was not immediately available for comment.

Reclaim These Streets echo the Reclaim the Night marches and rallies which have taken place in the UK since 1977, when they were first organised by the Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group in response to serial killings by Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe and a 10pm curfew imposed on women as a result.

In a statement on their website, Reclaim These Streets said: “We believe that streets should be safe for women, regardless of what you wear, where you live or what time of day or night it is. We shouldn’t have to wear bright colours when we walk home and clutch our keys in our fists to feel safe.

“It’s wrong that the response to violence against women requires women to behave differently. In Clapham, police told women not to go out at night this week. Women are not the problem.”