Police cracked down on crowds of drinkers in London after they took to the streets to protest against the new Tier Two lockdown measures.
Officers were seen arresting several people who refused to adhere to the 10pm curfew in Soho last night (16 October).
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It comes as the UK government introduced a tiered system of lockdown measures to try and bring the pandemic under control and stop the spread of the virus.
Under Tier 2, pubs and bars must close at 10pm, with businesses serving food and drink to be consumed off the premises allowed to remain open past the curfew.
Places of worship are also allowed to remain open, as are schools and universities.
The Rule of Six will also continue to apply outdoors and in private gardens, though people must not meet anyone from outside their household or support bubble in any indoor setting.
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Speaking about the new rules, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist, the Met's lead for the Covid-19 crisis, told the Evening Standard that it was vital people cooperated with them, but warned that officers would be enforcing the measures.
He said: "This is a critical moment in London's fight against this deadly virus.
"Frustratingly, we have seen a small number of dangerous and reckless breaches of the regulations and as the alert level in London increases, we are adopting our policing approach.
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"Communities across London can therefore expect to see an increase in our efforts to deal with the most deliberate, harmful and flagrant breaches of regulations."
Business Minster Nadhim Zahawi told Sky News: "This is really difficult, it's a balance between effectively two harms... the harm the virus is doing and obviously the harm to the economy and also to health of having the national lockdown.
"So the local lockdowns are the best way forward. The decisions are made with a heavy heart, really hard decisions... whether it be in Liverpool with Steve Rotheram (Mayor of the Liverpool City Region) there, and I have to pay tribute to him, the work we did with him over the weekend was pretty remarkable.
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"I hope we can do the same with Andy Burnham (Mayor of Greater Manchester) and other parts of the country clearly as well, not just obviously Greater Manchester, but London and elsewhere as well."
Speaking to the London Assembly, Khan also argued that more action should be taken on a national scale, as recommended by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).
Khan, as well as Labour leader Keir Starmer, has called for a 'circuit breaker' lockdown of a few weeks as he believes it would save lives and allow the government some breathing space to bring the test and trace strategy up to speed.
Khan argued that the idea that there is a choice between saving the economy and saving lives is false as delaying the increase of restrictions will necessitate stronger restrictions further down the line.
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LADbible has contacted The Metropolitan Police for a comment.
Featured Image Credit: James Veysey/ShutterstockTopics: Coronavirus, Politics, Health