The Red Lion pub in Parliament Street, central London The group had gathered outside the Red Lion pub in Parliament Street on Friday lunchtime
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More than 170 supporters of the English Defence League (EDL) have been arrested outside a pub near the Cenotaph in central London, Scotland Yard has said.
They were at the Red Lion in Parliament Street, close to Downing Street and government buildings on Whitehall.
The EDL had said it would be in Westminster on Armistice Day to pay its respects to military personnel who had been killed or injured while on duty.
Police said the arrests were made to "prevent a breach of the peace".
The EDL said it originally planned to stop members of the Muslims Against Crusades (MAC) group from burning poppies near the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington.
MAC staged an anti-Armistice Day protest last year and said it was planning to do the same again this year.
'Patriots removed'
But on Thursday, Home Secretary Theresa May announced MAC had been banned, and the organisation was disbanded.
The EDL then urged its members to gather peacefully in Westminster on Friday "to remember the sacrifice of the fallen".
The Metropolitan (Met) Police said: "Arrests were made in 2010 and two people were later convicted.
"Intelligence and info suggested a similar incident may occur this year," it added on its Twitter feed.
On its Facebook page, the EDL said police were "taking patriots out of pubs in tens and nicking them for breach of peace".
The Met said there had been "no reported disorder between opposing groups" so far on Friday.
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