As many as 150,000 protesters marched through central London on Saturday for a demonstration organised by the anti-immigrant and anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson.
The rally was met by a smaller “Stand Up to Racism”, following a highly charged summer in Britain that has seen protests over immigration and free speech.
Police estimated that 110,000 and 150,000 people attended the anti-immigration rally, dwarfing the 5,000-strong counter protest.
Police said 26 officers were injured, four seriously, after facing “unacceptable violence” while trying to control the crowds, many draped in English and British flags, during several tense hours on the rally’s fringes.
Officers had to intervene in multiple locations to stop Unite the Kingdom protesters trying to access “sterile areas” between the two protests, breach police cordons or get to opposing groups, London’s Metropolitan Police said.
“There is no doubt that many came to exercise their lawful right to protest, but there were many who came intent on violence,” Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said.
“They confronted officers, engaging in physical and verbal abuse and making a determined effort to breach cordons in place to keep everyone safe.”
He added arrests were made for violent disorder, assault and other offences, while officers’ injuries included broken teeth, a possible broken nose, a concussion, and a prolapsed disc.
Tens of thousands attend anti-immigration march in London
Demonstrators carried the Union flag of Britain and the red and white St George’s Cross of England, while others brought American and Israeli flags and wore the MAGA hats of US President Donald Trump. They chanted slogans critical of Prime Minister Keir Starmer and carried placards including some saying “send them home”. Some attendees brought children.
The protest comes just over a year after anti-immigration riots swept several cities, which the far-right Robinson was accused of helping to fuel with incendiary online posts.
“The silent majority will be silent no longer,” Robinson told the crowd. “Today is the spark of a cultural revolution.”
‘We believe in Tommy’
Many of the marchers bore placards mourning Charlie Kirk, the American conservative activist shot dead on Wednesday.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, describes himself as a journalist exposing state wrongdoing and counts US billionaire Elon Musk among his supporters.
Musk joined the event via video link, speaking alongside a number of far-right figures from Europe and the US.
“You’re in a fundamental situation here,” Musk told the crowd, claiming that “the left is the party of murder and celebrating murder”.
“Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die.”
French far-right politician Eric Zemmour and Petr Bystron of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party also made appearances at the event. Zemmour reiterated the far-right, white nationalist so-called “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory, which claims white Europeans are being deliberately supplanted by non-white immigrants.
“We want our country back, we want our free speech back on track,” said Sandra Mitchell, a supporter attending the rally.
“They need to stop illegal migration into this country,” she said. “We believe in Tommy.”
Immigration has become the dominant political issue in Britain, eclipsing concerns over a faltering economy, as the country faces a record number of asylum claims. More than 28,000 migrants have arrived in small boats across the Channel so far this year.
Britain’s biggest anti-immigrant political party, Reform UK, which has topped opinion polls in recent months, has kept its distance from Robinson, who has several criminal convictions.
Starmer’s government has also faced growing accusations that Britain is becoming hostile to free speech.
The government was met with widespread criticism after proscribing Palestine Action as a terrorist group in July after activists sprayed paint into the engines of two Royal Air Force planes they believed were connected to Israel’s Gaza campaign. Police have since arrested under anti-terror laws hundreds of peaceful protesters holding up signs supporting the group.
Meanwhile, the recent London Heathrow Airport arrest of award-winning Irish comedy writer Graham Linehan for allegedly insulting transgender people online prompted widespread derision.
Red and white English flags have proliferated along streets and been painted on roads. Supporters call it a spontaneous campaign of national pride, but anti-racism campaigners see a message of hostility to foreigners.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AFP and AP)
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