Above: police were present in numbers at the 29 November Trafalgar Square protest against the new "securité globale" law in France, but made no move to disrupt it.
In-person political protests are explicitly permitted under the new "tier" virus restrictions, coming in from 3 December. They were before 5 November. The lockdown regulations between 5 November and 2 December removed the explicit permission. Equally, it did not explicitly ban protests, and some went ahead with a heavy police presence but no attempt by police to stop them.
Police action has been mostly against anti-lockdown protests, which tend also to be organised without regard to masks and covid-distancing. But not all.
The new regulations explicitly permit public gatherings in an "outdoor place" organised by a "political body" with "required precautions".
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