Tens of thousands of people marched through central London yesterday in two separate protests – one against high levels of immigration and a perceived threat to British identity, and another in support of Palestinians.
Police deployed 4,000 officers, including reinforcements from outside the capital, and pledged ‘the most assertive possible use of our powers’ in what they called their biggest public order operation in years.
After both marches ended in the evening, police said they had made 43 arrests for a range of offences and described both protests as ‘largely without significant incident’.
They had earlier forecast turnout of at least 80,000.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday accused organisers of the Unite the Kingdom march of ‘peddling hate and division, plain and simple’.
The march was organised by anti-Islam activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson.
The government barred 11 people it described as ‘foreign far-right agitators’ from entering Britain to address the protest.
A previous protest led by Robinson in September drew around 150,000 people, police said, and featured a video address by US tech billionaire Elon Musk.
Scuffles left 26 officers injured, including four seriously.
Yesterday, four officers were injured, none seriously.
Robinson supporters gathered in central London, waving mainly British and English flags yesterday.
“I think that too much migration – not migration, but too much migration – is causing a lot of problems, upsetting a delicate balance here,” said Allison Parr, who also criticised net-zero environmental policies.
Annual net migration approached 900,000 in 2022 and 2023, but fell to around 200,000 last year after tighter work visa rules.
Concern over immigration – including the arrival of asylum seekers on small boats – has weighed on Starmer’s popularity and boosted the right-wing Reform UK party, whose leader Nigel Farage has distanced himself from Robinson.
Some protesters severely criticised Starmer.
Robinson, who has convictions for assault, stalking and other offences, said during the march that ‘we are awakening Great Britain – the cultural awakening, the cultural revolution, the spiritual awakening, it’s all underway’.
Earlier this year, he travelled to the US, where he met a State Department official and addressed supporters about the issue.
The separate pro-Palestinian march, marking Nakba Day, started in Kensington before heading to Waterloo Place via Piccadilly.
Nakba Day refers to the displacement of Palestinians who fled or were driven from their homes during the war surrounding Israel’s creation in 1948-49.
Demonstrators expressed a wide range of views, with many describing themselves as both anti-genocide and anti-fascist.
Flags and signs reading slogans including ‘smash the far right’ and ‘Free Palestinian Hostages’ could be seen amongst those gathered, many of whom were wearing keffiyehs, seen as a symbol of solidarity with Palestinians.
Speakers at the rally included Your Party co-founders Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, independent MP Diane Abbott and Labour MP Apsana Begum.
Abbott told demonstrators that they faced a ‘common enemy’ in the ‘far right’.
She added: “They are viciously right-wing, viciously racist, they are anti-black, anti-Muslim, and viciously antisemitic.
“We have to come together… to fight the racists, to fight the fascists.”
There were strict controls on where the marches could go and what time they finished.
It earlier said two men were arrested near Euston station – one of whom was wanted on suspicion of grievous bodily harm following an incident in Birmingham, and was spotted arriving in London to attend the Unite the Kingdom rally.
The second man was wanted for a separate offence which involved encouraging people to attack a police officer, the force added – having earlier said both men were connected to the incident in Birmingham.
The Met said four officers were assaulted, ‘fortunately none seriously’, during its public order operation yesterday, without specifying at which events.
Ahead of the demonstrations, Met Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner James Harman said the policing operation would cost the force £4.5 million.
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