i wasjust thinking, "gosh, all i wanted was to stand with other women." hundreds of demonstrators are gathered this evening near the houses of parliament. earlier, they lay on the ground for a minute's silence. authorities in the republic of ireland recommend temporarily suspending use of the astrazeneca vaccine, after a report of four new cases of blood clotting incidents in adults who'd had the jab in norway. the foreign secretary makes another call for the immediate release of british—iranian nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe after she faces new allegations of anti—government propaganda in court. and it's the music industry's biggest awards night of the year, the grammys. they're being held at a virtual ceremony in los angeles. good evening. the commissioner of the metropolitan police has defended the tactics of the force in breaking up last night's vigil for sarah everard, the 33—year—old woman whose body was found in woodland on wednesday. dame cressida dick said she welcomed an independent review into what happened, but that anyone "who wasn't in the operation cannot pass detailed comment." officers made several arrests, saying the gathering risked covid infections, but critics say police tactics were heavy handed. mps will debate a new bill this week giving forces wider powers in dealing with public gatherings and demonstrations. this report from our home editor mark easton contains flash photography. within moments of being taken, this picture of police holding down a woman on clapham common last night became a symbol of female defiance against male aggression. as darkness descended on the vigil for sarah everard, what had been a peaceful and respectful demonstration of female solidarity turned ugly. police moved in to disperse the crowd, there was pushing and shoving, with a number of women taken away in handcuffs. four were arrested for public order and coronavirus regulation breaches — among them, dania. as i was sat in the van, as my hands were handcuffed, i wasjust thinking... "gosh, all i wanted was to stand with other women." the fear that has been brewing for years from a very young age, we get harassed and we're aware of the abuse and violence against women. chanting: nojustice, no peace! as the police surrounded the bandstand, emotions intensified. they had grabbed me, they was being really aggressive, twisting my arms, you know, they had put me in the handcuffs. the beautiful women stood with me. one of them, as the pictures are circulating, she was thrown to the floor. you know, she had police officers on her back with their knees, their feet. the police are saying that they had to act for public safety reasons. i personally being there didn't see anyone being at risk. shame on you! the sight of women who had come together to stand against male violence being manhandled has led to a chorus of criticism from across the political spectrum. the mayor of london, sadiq khan — who runs policing in the capital — described the scenes as "completely unacceptable", demanding the commissioner of the met, dame cressida dick, explain herself at a meeting in city hall today. an official inquiry was ordered by the home secretary, priti patel, this afternoon as dame cressida defended her officers. they have to make these really difficult calls and i don't think anybody should be sitting back in an armchair and saying "well, that was done badly," or "i would've done it differently" without actually understanding what was going through their minds. the metropolitan police were already being investigated for events around the sarah everard murder inquiry. now, scotland yard's leaders find themselves under increasing political pressure. the focus really of this weekend should be on sarah everard and herfamily but it is right also that the police explain their actions. they should've been allowed to protest, to have their vigil, to come together in peace and i was very disturbed to see the police action. i think it was wrong and i'm pleased it's now going to be reviewed. there is evidence to suggest that some of those who attended the vigil had been looking for trouble and the police had been criticised before for not intervening in protests during the pandemic, notably by the home secretary. this evening, a crowd of protesters gathered outside scotland yard presenting a new challenge to the police's ability to handle the outpouring of anguish sparked by sarah everard's death. up to now, the met stands accused of getting it badly wrong. mark easton, bbc news. following the demonstation at new scotland yard, there was a further gathering this afternoon at parliament square where demonstrators lay down on the ground as they observed a minute's silence to remember sarah everard. the crowd then dispersed — with people walking along whitehall to trafalgar square. then this evening, some of those demonstrators returned to parliament square to continue their protest. this was the scene around an hour ago. from outside. you can see the house of parliament behind. the met police has tweeted in the last few tweeted in the last few minutes... despite repeated requests by officers, they are still gathering, in breach of the regulations. "we are urging people to go home." rod jarman is the former deputy assistant commissioner for territorial policing. he now leads policing education at the university of west london. i'm sure from your students' point of view, there's going to be a lot to get their teeth into in debating theissues to get their teeth into in debating the issues that arise from what happened last night. what are your impressions initially of what you saw and what you've heard subsequently? i saw and what you've heard subsequently?— saw and what you've heard subsequently? i think the first thin , subsequently? i think the first thing. what — subsequently? i think the first thing, what an _ subsequently? i think the first thing, what an awful - subsequently? i think the first | thing, what an awful situation, subsequently? i think the first - thing, what an awful situation, this terrible murder leading to a whole number of things coming together yesterday. then a vigil going horrendously wrong and their being all those problems with the police as a fallout. what is really terrible from my perspective is we've moved away from thinking about issues of violence against women, we've moved away from thinking about the terrible murder of sarah everard and we've ended up in this debate in police tactics. i think one of the things people really have to bear in mind is what is extremely difficult to know what's going on last night. we don't know why that happened. also, we have to realise the police are having a huge change in their role of responsibilities in society. this is across the world. as the police have moved into this health protection type role, having to enforce the social distancing rules, having to manage a whole set of new requirements, new laws which haven't been worked through and rented out and having to respond very quickly to vastly changing situations. so it's extremely difficult to get these things right, but the problem is if you get them wrong, particularly with an issue as important as violence against women, you wind up creating a situation where trust and the confidence of police is massively eroded. something the police are already struggling to deal with, perceptions that they are not putting enough effort into the prosecution or providing the evidence to go ahead with cases on issues like rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, all issues being dealt with at the same time. units set up to deal with predatory male behaviour, but where that fails, add to that impression that fails, add to that impression that police are not doing enough of theirjob. let's talk about that police are not doing enough of their job. let's talk about the policing of the incident itself last night. would somebody quite senior have had to make the decision to break up at vigil? i have had to make the decision to break up at vigil?— have had to make the decision to break up at vigil? i think the whole issue of trying _ break up at vigil? i think the whole issue of trying to _ break up at vigil? i think the whole issue of trying to guess _ break up at vigil? i think the whole issue of trying to guess what - break up at vigil? i think the whole issue of trying to guess what the l issue of trying to guess what the command chain was and what was decided and who took the action is something that is very difficult to do from outside. and i think that is the one thing i am massively agreeing with, we need to sit back and actually get this investigated properly so people can see what happened. if we look at the images, what we see is the end of a decision, and a decision which always ends up, if you wind up in conflict, it never... it is a good place to be because you wind up having to push and shove and drive people away to give officers enough space, but that looks even worse yesterday because of the backdrop of what was happening and because of the fact there was predominantly male police officers pushing a predominantly female group to get to the outcome. so it's really difficult to get to the conclusion, and it'll be really important to see why the police felt they needed to act at that particular time.- act at that particular time. there are issues _ act at that particular time. there are issues about _ act at that particular time. there are issues about this _ act at that particular time. there are issues about this in - act at that particular time. there are issues about this in terms i act at that particular time. there are issues about this in terms of| are issues about this in terms of the contrasting approach to policing. the covid regulations impose quite strong penalties, and they require the police. there are pressures. police officers a couple of days ago —— weeks ago in glasgow when the rangers were celebrating the team's first win in ten years. they urge them to disperse, but in the and, they didn't choose to use force because they thought the risk was greater —— in the end. you could argue last night that the risk of infection was increased because of the close body contact that actually dispersing, arresting, detaining some of the demonstrators involved which put the officers at risk as well. i which put the officers at risk as well. ~ , ., ., ., ~ well. i think you have to think about these _ well. i think you have to think about these things _ well. i think you have to think about these things in - well. i think you have to think about these things in a - well. i think you have to think. about these things in a number well. i think you have to think - about these things in a number of different ways. when you look at the ability to impose a change in the way society behaves, which is what the covid regulations are all about, you have to sort of set the mindset that this is how people behave. and when that change, you have to decide whether or not you're going to allow that to... ortake whether or not you're going to allow that to... or take action. one of the big problems with police is this timeframe of taking action and not taking action, whichever they wait they go, they will be criticised. i think it's also quite difficult to look at what was happening in scotland versus what was happening in london, and also to compare situations where we don't know what the intelligence was about, what was happening and why the police felt they had to do something at that time. i think that's the sort of thing we need to have properly investigated, that needs to come out. ., , ., , , out. one of the complications is --eole out. one of the complications is peeple can't _ out. one of the complications is peeple can't get _ out. one of the complications is people can't get away _ out. one of the complications is people can't get away from - out. one of the complications is people can't get away from the | out. one of the complications is . people can't get away from the fact that the man who's accused of sarah everard's murder and the proceedings, they have not begun... it would not be appropriate to comment on that, but he was, happens to be, a serving member of the metropolitan police force, and that is part of the context in which this public anxiety has been expressed to. i public anxiety has been expressed to. . , ,., , ., public anxiety has been expressed to. . , , . ., to. i absolutely agree. one of the issues here _ to. i absolutely agree. one of the issues here is _ to. i absolutely agree. one of the issues here is about, _ to. i absolutely agree. one of the issues here is about, rather - to. i absolutely agree. one of the issues here is about, rather than | issues here is about, rather than focusing on dealing with what happened in that incident, how a person in such a position of trust feels they could carry out such an offensive act. all those thirds of things we've moved away from, into some police tactic debate, and i think that is a real damaging outcome of this. what i really believe we should be looking at is one of the reasons —— one of the reasons that are driving violence against women. the chair of the national chilled police chief counsel to bring everyone together on monday to get some speed and energy behind changing things quickly is what we should be focusing on, where he should be going and unfortunately, that's been sidelined because of the events of yesterday. sidelined because of the events of esterda . . . ., , yesterday. thanks so much for being with us on bbc— yesterday. thanks so much for being with us on bbc news _ yesterday. thanks so much for being with us on bbc news this _ yesterday. thanks so much for being with us on bbc news this evening. i with us on bbc news this evening. thank you very much. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers. our guestsjoining me tonight are the former pensions minister, ros altmann, and the independent�*s business commentator, james moore. do stay with us for that. always a lively and interesting discussion and always great to see what stories are making the news and to be the first to see them. the irish government has suspended the use of the astrazeneca vaccine because of concern about four reports of blood clots in patients who've received the jab in norway. the health secretary said the move was a precautionary step. astrazeneca and the uk regulator the mhra both say there is no evidence that having the vaccine increases the risk of blood clots. in a moment, we'll speak to professor peter openshaw, an immunologist at imperial college london, but first, our correspondent louise cullen is following this story. the deputy chief medical officer in the republic made the announcement this morning in a statement following those reports of thrombolytic events, clots and bleeds and so on made actually across europe. there have been around 30 of these events reported from europe, but that's in the context of around 5 million europeans getting the oxford astrazeneca jab. but as of this morning, ireland hasjoined a list of countries which have either suspended the astrazeneca vaccine or have suspended the use of certain batches of it. that list includes norway, denmark, italy, estonia and several other european nations as well. astrazeneca has been given in the republic of ireland around 110,000 times — that is about a fifth of the vaccines that have been administered. it's been used in the uk more than 11 million times and the regulator here in the uk says there's no evidence of any excess deaths or clots reported in association with it. it's important to say that the european regulator, the ema, and the world health organization, have also said there is no evidence of a link between the vaccine and these thrombolytic events. astrazeneca says that clots are naturally occurring and that the numbers that are being reported are no greater than what would be expected in an unvaccinated population. we spoke to peter openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at imperial college london and is also a member of the uk vaccine network. he says a lot of countries are being cautious in suspending the vaccine and from looking at the numbers, it doesn't look like there is an exceptional rate of blood clotting. well, it's evident that people who develop covid do have a quite high complication rate of developing blood clots. it is one of the things that has really surprised us in this disease is that there are major blood clots and also small blood clots in little vessels in the lung for example which are a complication of covid itself. so there is that known link. there is no reason to expect that to be the case with vaccination, of course, because the vaccine is designed to prevent covid and therefore to prevent those sort of complications. so, in a sense, there is a kind of strange paradox, isn't there? if you don't take the vaccine because you are worried about blood clotting, you might actually be putting yourself potentially at risk of blood clotting because you might otherwise get the virus. nonetheless, do you understand why ireland has taken the action it has? i think a lot of countries, quite rightly, are just being very, very cautious and are taking the measure ofjust suspending vaccination whilst this is investigated, but i think it is absolutely clear that when this has been looked into, there is no increased rate of clotting and blood clots are actually quite common in the population, particularly, obviously, in older people. it's a reasonably common condition to develop blood clots and you will see this when you roll out vaccines at scale in millions of people. and you will see some people who die very soon after having the vaccine through causes which are nothing to do with actually having had the vaccine. so you can understand the desire for caution, but actually, looking at the numbers, it does not look like there's an exceptional rate of blood clotting. i was talking to a colleague earlier who said from her perspective, although she's a long way off from receiving vaccination right now, she said it has to be a consideration for people like me because she said i already take a medication which makes me more at risk of blood clots. for those people in that situation, what sort of conversation should they have with their gp or anyone else who is vaccinating them? is there an option for instance to say, look, i would prefer to use one of the other vaccines? what advice would you offer, if i could put you in that invidious position? yes, well, at the moment there is no evidence to say whether one vaccine is preferable to another. it's remarkable that the vaccines that are currently being licensed under the emergency license procedure, all of them are remarkably effective. remarkably effective. it's one of the most extraordinary things i have seen in my lifetime, to develop vaccines this fast that are so effective at preventing an infectious disease. and, you know, there is a side effect rate that you would expect with a vaccine that is very powerful in terms of stimulating the immune system, but at the moment, i would not really say that there's any proof at all that the vaccine has actually caused these clotting events that have been so sadly observed in a few cases. the british—iranian woman, nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, who has just completed a five—year prison sentence in tehran, has again appeared in court to face new charges. she's accused of propaganda against iran, including taking part in a demonstration in london 12 years ago. nazanin�*s husband, richard ratcliffe, says the family's turmoil is far from over. i think it's fair to say that the worst of her experience was the beginning and that's when