lockdown protest london piers corbyn
© Agence France-Presse/Justin TallisPiers Corbyn (C), brother of former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, is arrested by police officers at an anti-coronavirus lockdown demonstration in Hyde Park in London on May 16, 2020, following an easing of lockdown rules in England during the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.
The UK has been on lockdown to slow the spread of coronavirus since 23rd March, with people urged to stay at home as much as possible and many businesses and services shut down temporarily.

The brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been arrested at an anti-lockdown protest in London's Hyde Park.

Photos and videos from the park showed around 40 protesters gathered the morning of 16th May, near world-famous Speaker's Corner at the north-eastern end of the park. Some held banners bearing the slogans "this is not about a virus, this is about control" and "no to the new abnormal".

Police led Piers Corbyn away in handcuffs after he gave a speech with a megaphone, proclaiming 5G and the pandemic were linked, and lockdown was a "pack of lies to brainwash you and keep you in order". His arrest seemingly stemmed from refusing to leave the area or provide his personal details.


​The UK currently has the second-highest confirmed death toll from coronavirus in the world, second only to the US. Earlier in May, a group of protesters took part in a group hug outside Met Police's London headquarters in defiance of lockdown restrictions.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson began easing lockdown measures this week, now people who can't work from home are asked to return to their workplaces and restrictions have been removed on the time people are allowed to spend outside - as long as they remain socially distanced.

The UK-wide protests follow several instances of unrest in the US over lockdown measures - armed protesters in Michigan rallied round the Michigan state capitol building earlier this month over the state's "stay at home" orders. Nonetheless, polling indicates a majority of Britons support the lockdown - and a protest in Cardiff, Wales was attended by just two people.

"Lockdown is a breach of our civil liberties. It's a big experiment to see if the government can control us. We're going to be the next North Korea," the pair, who travelled 40 miles from Bristol for the occasion, said.

Piers Corbyn has previously made headlines with his coronavirus conspiracy theorising, suggesting the UK government is attempting to build a "new world order" by way of the lockdown, which will see citizens injected with microchips for tracking.

Public gatherings by definition ignore public health advice and flout emergency laws intended to protect the public the spread of coronavirus, while placing police who break up the events at risk.