A poppy seller caught up in a pro-Palestine rally has said he was punched and kicked by protesters.
Veteran Jim Henderson, 78, says he was set upon while selling Remembrance poppies at Waverley Station in Edinburgh.
Footage shared on social media appears to show Mr Henderson, who served in Northern Ireland, trying to get away from the crowd.
His ordeal ended when station staff intervened, shoving protesters out of the way after more than 1,000 descended on the transport hub.
Mr Henderson told MailOnline: “I was getting shoved backwards – in danger of falling – and one of them stood on my foot and split my toe.
“So I thought I had got to get the money out of here. So I went down, and as I bent down someone punched me in the back. And then I got another punch in my side.”
Mr Henderson, who told the publication he had served in the Royal Corps of Signals, 32 Signal Regiment, said he was rescued by three women in red, railway uniforms.
He added: “I’ve never known anything like it.”
News of Mr Henderson’s claim comes amid heightened tensions between supporters of the Palestinian people and Israel as the country lays siege on Gaza.
More than 10,000 people in Gaza have been killed in Israeli ground and air offensives after Hamas gunmen slaughtered 1,400 in a bloody attack in southern Israel on October 7.
In London, the Metropolitan Police on Monday (November 6) called on the organisers of a demonstration on Armistice Day to postpone.
Concerns have been raised about the protest due to take place in central London on Saturday, including by Home Secretary Suella Bravernman and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The Met said senior officers had asked various groups behind the event to “urgently reconsider” and described the plans as “not appropriate” during a meeting on Monday.
But the coalition of groups, which includes Stop the War and the Muslim Association of Britain, insisted they would press ahead with the demonstration calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Met Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan, who leads public order policing in the English capital, said: “The risk of violence and disorder linked to breakaway groups is growing.
“This is of concern ahead of a significant and busy weekend in the capital.
“Our message to organisers is clear: please, we ask you to urgently reconsider. It is not appropriate to hold any protests in London this weekend.”
Home Secretary Suella Braverman welcomed the Met’s statement.
She said: “The hate marchers need to understand that decent British people have had enough of these displays of thuggish intimidation and extremism.”
The organisers of the protest said they were “deeply concerned” by the Met statement, claiming the force could not provide “any evidence” for why the risk of breakaway groups engaging in criminal activity would be any greater.
They said: “We recognise the political pressure being placed on the police by the Government and right-wing political groups.
“However, we emphasise that they had and have a responsibility to withstand that pressure and act to uphold democratic freedoms.
“We will be holding a protest on Saturday and we invite all people of conscience to join us in peacefully marching as planned.”
Lindsey German, of Stop the War, previously described the Met Police intervention as a “denial of our civil liberties”, adding organisers were “determined to go ahead”.
