'It's depressing!' Dawn Neesom blasts London's 'fun police' for closing major parks on New Year's Eve

The Metropolitan Police announced Primrose Hill is among one of the parks that is closed this evening, with officers fencing off the area and preventing crowds from watching the display.

Addressing the closures, a spokesman for the Royal Parks Charity claimed there were "limited controls that we can deploy to ensure public safety".

Expressing her outrage at the decision, Dawn told the People's Channel: "Londoners are gearing up to celebrate New Year's Eve, and there's plenty of locals already rolling their eyes over what's happening because what should be the capital's biggest party has become a huge let down.

"We've got the big fireworks display in London, but that is actually really expensive to go to and ticket sell out right away, priced between £20 and £50."

She added: "There are lots of places around London where you can obviously just look up at the skies and see the beautiful fireworks - parks... oh no, wait, you're not allowed to do that now, because all those free viewing spots have vanished.

"Places like Primrose Hill, great view up there, every year people gather up there and watch the fireworks for a free in a open space that's taxpayer funded. It's free. No, you can't do that now.

"The police and the parks authority have decided that to put a barrier around it, so you can't go and stand in the park and watch the fireworks. It is depressing, it really is."

Dawn told viewers: "And also they are shutting Alexandra Palace, big park, can't go in there, Greenwich Park down in South London where you can see the fireworks, can't go there either.

"And even Hyde Park, they're shutting that one up at midnight just in case anyone actually wants to go and celebrate the new year with a glass of champagne in a taxpayer funded park. I'm really angry. What is the fun police doing? It's New Year's Eve, for God's sakes. Why can't we go and watch some fireworks?

"We can't defend our borders from people coming over on the boats, but we can put barriers up around our parks and stop taxpayers going to enjoy the spaces they pay for?!"

Asking for the thoughts of her panel, commentator Gawain Towler told the channel: "Those coming in boats have a little bit more determination to get here. If everybody actually said no, we're going to go to Parliament Hill, they could take it over if they said so.

"It has become increasingly this way, fun is problematic. Somebody was murdered in 2023, but how many people are killed and injured in Notting Hill and that is allowed to continue?"

He added: "They closed the parks police, so you don't have the people who it's actually their job to look after the parks, they've gone. And I'm sure you'll just have a lot of people in hi-vis jackets, cold and miserable, standing next to metal railings saying 'no, you can't come here, you can't park your car there'. And it's just part of this great miserable-ification of modern life."

Weighing in on the closures, commentator Scarlett MccGuire argued: "You lose either way, right? There seems to be an argument between the Royal Parks and the Met. It's a bit political with a small P.

"The Royal Park says we haven't got enough to do it, and the Met goes, they do. And the Met goes, actually, we think it would be fine, but the problem is, if something goes wrong, immediately the blame game begins. Why wasn't it done properly? Why won't this happen? And I just feel that you're in a lose, lose position."

Responding to Ms MccGuire, Mr Towler said: "To a certain extent, life is too short. We are capable of enjoying ourselves without too much supervision, I would hope, and to a certain extent it is modern society.

"Modern society wants to do one thing, but demands that be protected for everything. We have to take responsibility for ourselves, our own fun, our own lives, our own lookout and not blame everybody else for our own failing."

In a statement, a spokesman for the Mayor of London has previously said: "Nothing is more important to the Mayor than keeping London safe, and he continues to lead the way by being tough on crime with a record £1.16billion in support for the police this year alone.

"And tough on the complex causes of crime through the country's first Violence Reduction Unit, which is leading an approach rooted in prevention and intervention."

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