Hundreds made it into the shopping centre where they stayed for about half an hour chanting “no more lockdowns” and “take your freedom back” before they were cleared by police with batons drawn, although without scenes of violence. A video shared with the Guardian showed Piers Corbyn, the anti-lockdown protest figurehead, addressing the crowds inside the shopping centre through a megaphone. He said: “We’re here as free people, spending our time communicating, to prepare for the summer of discontent, where we’re going to organise in every community to prevent any more lockdowns. No more lockdowns!”... One protester, who would give his name only as Paul, from Bedfordshire, said he was taking part because he was scared about where the unprecedented crackdown on civil liberties under the pretext of fighting the pandemic would lead. “I’m frightened about our liberties, our choice about whether we want to be vaccinated or not,” he said. “Lots of people legitimately don’t have any faith in it at all.”