Fury as man urinates next to memorial of murdered police officer PC Palmer as far-right protests intensify

An image of a man urinating next to the memorial to murdered officer PC Keith Palmer has provoked outrage.

The image was taken as tensions rose between far-right protesters and police in central London.

Palmer was killed as he tried to protect parliament from a terrorist attack on 22 March, 2017.

The picture, which has been widely circulated on Twitter, shows a man relieving himself right next to Palmer’s plaque which was erected outside the Palace of Westminster last February.

Tobias Ellwood, the Tory MP who gave first aid to the dying police officer in his final moments of life, said that he found the image to be “abhorrent”.

The PC Palmer plaque is only a short distance from the statue of Winston Churchill, which is being “protected” by far-right protesters, despite the fact that Black Lives Matter protests were called off and that the statue has been boarded up for safety purposes already.

Across the capital there have been disturbing scenes of violence and aggression towards police officers and journalists from the far-right protesters, who have thrown punches and bottles. Some protesters were even seen doing what appeared to be Nazi salutes near the cenotaph war memorial.

On social media, people were furious about this photo, not least because protesters claim to “respect” memorials and urinating by a plaque doesn’t seem to be very respectful.

Truly distressing scenes.