ITALIAN police used water cannon and tear gas to push back neofascist activists on Saturday as they demonstrated against a government drive to make Covid-19 vaccination mandatory for all workers.

The main group of protesters in Rome tried to break through police lines to reach Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s city centre office, the Chigi Palace, while a separate group tried to smash their way into the headquarters of the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL) trade union body with the use of sticks and metal bars.

Opponents of Italy’s Covid-19 green pass, which proves that somebody has either been vaccinated, has recovered from the virus, or has received a recent negative test, say it tramples on freedoms and is a back-door means of forcing people to get vaccinated.