Tommy Robinson is leading a ‘patriotic’ march today in London
Credit: Shutterstock
Central London saw thousands of protestors backing Tommy Robinson in a rally, chanting “We want our country back”.
Biggest patriotic rally
Waving flags and singing songs, the demonstrators gathered at the Royal Courts of Justice as the starting point of their march to Trafalgar Square
Tommy Robinson has declared this rally, entitled the ‘Uniting the Kingdom’ event, to be the “biggest patriotic rally the UK has ever seen”.
The crowd has been heard singing “Rule Britannia” before their march in London.
Metropolitan Police in action
In response to the protest, the Metropolitan Police have descended onto central London, with over 1,000 police officers in and around the rally to keep the peace this afternoon.
The officers are also on high alert due to two demonstrations taking place just two miles from each other; the Stand Up To Racism march, set up as a counter-demonstration to Robinson’s, and the Trans Pride march.
The Metropolitan Police reported that the majority of its officers on duty today are tasked with keeping the conflicting groups apart from each other in an attempt to minimise threat levels.
Police have warned that although leaflets have been suggesting the Stand Up To Racism rally will finish in Trafalgar Square, it will in fact end in Whitehall by police orders.
Uniting the Kingdom
The Uniting the Kingdom event has seen crowds gather on The Strand, a major street in the City of Westminister, before marching to Trafalgar Square.
An array of flags can be seen waving in and amongst the crowd, including the British, English, Scottish and Welsh flags, as well as other flags adorning symbols of Israel, the former Shah of Iran and the military heraldry.
Demonstrators looking to make more noise have begun climbing on top of phone boxes and up poles, with others lighting red flares.
Other placards can be seen expressing the protestors views, such as, “Not far right, just right”
The crowd can be heard chanting “England, England, England”, adding “England till I die”, as they start the march.
Robinson on live stream
Tommy Robinson, appearing on a live stream in front of thousands of people gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice, stated “A line in the sand has been drawn”.
Robinson added “This is the biggest gathering of patriots Europe has seen, and its happening in Great Britain. Get your people organised, unify your countries.”
Anti-Islamic chants could also be heard as the rally continued through London, with Robinson stating “Enough is enough, a line in the sand has been drawn. We’re being replaced no longer.”
When Robinson’s rally reaches Trafalgar Square, Tommy Robinson and his right-wing peers will give speeches to the crowd.
Opposing rallies in London
London is also seeing two other rallies happen today; Stand Up To Racism and Trans Pride.
The rally organised by Stand Up To Racism and other groups, including Jeremy Corbyn’s Peace Justice Project, will see protestors gather at Russel Square before marching down Embankment to finish their march at Whitehall.
Whitehall is located less than 400 metres from Tommy Robinson s far-right march.
Police have stated they will keep the two protests separate from each other, warning that they “Need to keep opposing groups apart to keep the peace. We’ll take action against any breaches of conditions”.
The Metropolitan Police also reiterated, on X, that “Some flyers online suggest the Stand Up To Racism march will finish in Trafalgar Square. This isn’t the case. There are conditions requiring it to finish in Whitehall.”
The left speak out
Organisers from the Stand Up To Racism group stated online, “We are stressing the need to come together and build once again the kind of broad united movement that can drive back the threat as we have done before”.
Samual Sweek, from the Peace Justice Project, added, “The rise of the far-right and fascist politics in Britain and across Europe is a cause of great concern for us all.”
Sweek went on further, stating “The political establishment has allowed breathing space for hate and division in our communities, we must stand with those targeted by the likes of Tommy Robinson and his thugs.”
Samuel Sweek succinctly summed up the efforts of their rally, stating “We refuse to cede any ground to bigotry, racism, Islamaphobia, homophobia, transphobia or any other form of hate they attempt to bring to our streets.”
There will also be a march in support of Trans Pride in London today, with activists marching from Langham Place to Wellington Arch.
Although the majority of the members at the Trans Pride rally have opposing views to Robinson’s, it has not been labelled a counter-demonstration to his group s protest and no conditions have been imposed upon them.
London will be packed
Tommy Robinsons right-wing rally started this morning and is expected to last until 5:30 pm today, while the Stand Up To Racism rally started at 1:30 pm.
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Originally from the UK, Harry Sinclair is a journalist and freelance writer based in Almeria covering local stories and international news, with a keen interest in arts and culture. If you have a news story please feel free to get in touch at [email protected].
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