Piers Corbyn has reportedly been arrested after a video surfaced on social media showing the brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn slamming politicians who voted for COVID-19 restrictions.
In the footage, a man thought to be Corbyn, a prominent anti-lockdown protester, appeared to call for the offices of MPs to be torched.
London police have confirmed that a man in his 70s remains in custody.
“The arrest relates to a video posted online in which people were encouraged to burn down MPs’ offices,” stated the Metropolitan Police.
After urging the crowd to “hammer to death those scum who have decided to go ahead with introducing new fascism,” Corbyn, 74, is heard telling a crowd outside Downing Street at an anti-vaccine protest in Westminster:
“You’ve got to get a list of them … and if your MP is one of them, go to their offices and, well, I would recommend burning them down, OK. But I can’t say that on air. I hope we’re not on air.”
Corbyn continues his rant in the video, saying:
“We’ve got to take down these lying MPs. And we’ve got to support and welcome all of those who have rebelled or voted against Boris, ie rebelled from the Tories or my brother and his mates who voted against the measures yesterday, which is a step forward.”
Despite a backbencher Tory rebellion against Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s “Plan B” to curb the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, legislation to introduce vaccine certificates was passed on 14 December.
The UK Home Secretary, Priti Patel, went on Twitter to urge the police to investigate the “sickening” video.
Earlier in the year, Piers Corbyn was linked to leaflets comparing the UK's COVID-19 vaccine rollout to Auschwitz. In February, the flyers showed a drawing of the gates of the Nazi concentration camp, with the camp's infamous "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign ("Work sets you free") replaced by the phrase "Vaccines are a safe path to freedom."
The words had reportedly been taken from a headline in the Evening Standard newspaper on 27 November. Piers Corbyn was credited for the "concept" of the image in the leaflets. Corbyn said at the time he had offered a "full rebuttal" to the police.