TORY MP Mark Francois has condemned “violent protesters” who tried to “defile” the Winston Churchill statue in Westminster.

Mr Francois, MP for Rayleigh and Wickford, said it was “absurd and shameful” that the monument was at risk.

The statue, in Parliament Square, was boarded up on Friday ahead of planned protests by far right groups on Saturday. 

Six police officers suffered minor injuries in violent clashes as several hundred demonstrators, mostly white men, attended the protest organised by far-right groups which claimed they wanted to protect statues such as Winston Churchill from vandalism.

But the demonstration turned violent after hundreds of self-proclaimed "statue defenders" took over areas near the Houses of Parliament and Trafalgar Square and hurled missiles, smoke grenades, glass bottles and flares at police officers.

Mr Francois said: “The statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square is a permanent reminder of his achievement in saving this country – and the whole of Europe – from a fascist and racist tyranny.

“Yes, he sometimes expressed opinions that were and are unacceptable to us today, but he was a hero, and he fully deserves his memorial.

“We cannot now try to edit or censor our past. We cannot pretend to have a different history - the statues in our cities and towns were put up by previous generations.”

Mr Francois said he was appalled by death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

He added: "Nevertheless, this awful incident in no way justifies left-wing activists attacking a statue of a national hero, or attempting to set fire to the Union Flag at the Cenotaph – our national memorial to the fallen.”