London: Thousands of anti-capitalist protesters scuffled with police in central London and outside Buckingham Palace on Wednesday after marching on parliament.
Part of a “Million Masks March” held in several world cities and organised by activist group Anonymous, the protesters tossed traffic cones, bottles and street signs at police and pulled down metal barricades.
The demonstration was held on the night of Britain’s Guy Fawkes Night, and many of the marchers wore the white masks of the man who plotted to blow up parliament in 1605, now associated with Anonymous.
“One solution, revolution,” the protesters chanted, some setting off fireworks as they faced off with lines of police.
Protesters also tried to storm national broadcaster the BBC, but were blocked from entering by police.
Shops closed their doors as protesters broke off to march down London’s central shopping district, pulling over bins and smashing a car window.
Ten protesters were arrested on suspicion of offences including assaults on police, obstruction and fireworks offences, police said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin in nothing but green underwear and European leader Jose Manuel Barroso are among those being paraded and burnt during traditional British bonfire celebrations this week.
Effigies of the two leaders were unveiled as part of Guy Fawkes Night, a nationwide celebration on November 5 featuring bonfires and fireworks that marks a failed plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605.
The Putin effigy — which had him sitting on a tank in a nod to Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine — was paraded through Lewes in southeast England on Wednesday, home of one of Britain’s biggest bonfire celebrations.
The Russian leader was naked except for bright green underwear pulled over his shoulders, in the style of fictional comic character Borat.
Meanwhile, in Edenbridge in Kent, the local bonfire society unveiled a 10-metre (33-feet) effigy of Barroso, the Portuguese politician who headed the European Commission until last month.
The effigy held an EU budget bill in one hand — referencing a recent £1.7 billion (Dh9.9 billion $2.7 billion) bill sent by Brussels to London recently, which has sparked a bitter row.
Dressed in a blue suit with the stars of the European Union flag and holding a British bulldog, the Barroso figurine will be burnt on Saturday in Edenbrige bonfire celebrations.
“We do try very hard to pick somebody who’s absolutely current in the news,” said Jon Mitchell, a member of the local bonfire society.
“We only made the decision on Tuesday of last week and we started building Jose on the Thursday,” he added.
Traditionally it is Guy Fawkes, leader of the “Gunpowder Plot”, who gets thrown on the bonfire.
But in recent years, celebrities and public figures have become common.
Lewes festival, where flaming crosses are paraded in commemoration of Protestants burnt at the stake in the 16th century, has been known for provocative choices since an effigy of Osama bin Laden in 2001.
Previous targets have included footballers Mario Balotelli and Wayne Rooney, French president Jacques Chirac and Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
