LONDON — Tens of thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday in two separate protests — one against high levels of immigration and what organisers described as an Islamic threat to British identity, and the other 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.
By 6:30 p.m. BST, after both marches had ended, 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 a combined 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.”
Anti-Immigration March
The march was organised by anti-Islam activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better 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, according to police, and featured a video address by US tech billionaire Elon Musk. That event saw scuffles that left 26 officers injured, four of them seriously. On Saturday, four officers were injured, none seriously.
Robinson’s supporters gathered in central London, waving mainly British and English flags.
“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 chanted abuse directed at Starmer.
Robinson, who has previous convictions for assault, stalking and other offences, told the crowd: “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 United States, where he met a State Department official and addressed supporters about what he called “the dangers of Islam” and “the Islamification of Great Britain.”
Census data shows that 6.5 per cent of people in England and Wales identified as Muslim in 2021, up from 4.9 per cent in 2011.
Among those who spoke on the main stage were three French women from the anti-immigration feminist group Nemesis. They appeared wearing Islamic-style face veils, drew jeers from the crowd, then removed the veils to loud cheers before delivering a speech critical of Muslim immigration. Later, a cellist performed with what appeared to be rashers of raw bacon draped over his shoulders.
Pro-Palestinian March
Nearby, demonstrators carrying Palestinian flags and placards calling for an end to the conflict in Gaza held a march to mark Nakba Day, which commemorates the displacement of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
“Israel’s behaviour is unjust beyond belief,” said protester Sharon De-Wit. “After the Holocaust, all you can do is wish the Jewish people all the best. But they won’t be able to live in peace until they allow the Palestinian people to form their own state.”
London has recently seen a spate of arson attacks on Jewish sites, and two Jewish men were stabbed last month in an incident being treated as terrorism.
Police said repeated large pro-Palestinian marches — 33 since the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023 — have left many Jewish people feeling too intimidated to enter central London.
While protesters held a range of views, police noted that the marches routinely lead to arrests for racially and religiously aggravated public order offences. Some demonstrators on Saturday chanted “Death to the IDF,” language police have previously said can constitute an offence when directed at Jewish people.
Source: Reuters
