Tens of thousands of people attended two major protests in central London on Saturday, as police reported 43 arrests. Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom march and the pro-Palestine Nakba Day rally both took place with approximately 4,000 police officers on duty.
As of around 7:30pm on Saturday, a total of 43 arrests had been made, the Metropolitan Police said. Additionally, 22 arrests were made at the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium. Four officers were assaulted and six were subjected to hate crime offences, the force added in a post on X.
Earlier, police stated that two men arriving in London to attend the Unite the Kingdom protest were arrested near Euston station in connection with an unrelated incident in Birmingham. The Met later clarified that one man was arrested for the Birmingham incident, while the second was wanted for encouraging an attack on a police officer.
Chants of “Keir Starmer’s a wanker” and “we want Starmer out” were heard from the Unite the Kingdom march, with many protesters wearing red “Make England Great Again” hats. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, posted a video on X saying, “Keir Starmer, the country’s awake, your days are numbered.” He claimed millions attended, though police estimated tens of thousands.
Speaking on stage, Robinson urged crowds to engage in local politics, stating, “Are you ready for the battle of Britain? 2029 we have an election. If we don’t send a message in our next election, if you don’t register to vote, we are going to lose our country forever.” Other speakers included Katie Hopkins, Ant Middleton, Laurence Fox, and former Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen.
Siobhan Whyte, mother of Rhiannon Whyte who was murdered by a Sudanese asylum seeker, told the protest that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer “failed my daughter.” Polish politician Dominik Tarczynski appeared via video link, claiming to have been banned from entering the UK by Starmer.
At the pro-Palestine march, a large group carried banners reading “Bristol stands with Palestine” and “Free Palestinian Hostages.” Organisers estimated at least 250,000 attendees, while police had estimated 30,000. Labour MP Apsana Begum told protesters the movement would not be divided by the “far right.” MP Diane Abbott said they faced a “common enemy” in the “far right,” which she described as “viciously right-wing, racist, anti-black, anti-Muslim, and antisemitic.”
Your Party co-founder Zarah Sultana criticised Andy Burnham as “not an alternative” and “another establishment politician cut from the same Zionist cloth.” Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told supporters that Westminster needs a change in “policy” not “personalities.”
A woman was arrested for refusing to remove a fabric face mask at the pro-Palestine protest. Another group wearing orange jumpsuits with masks bearing Nigel Farage’s photo were also asked to remove their masks. Weyman Bennett of Stand Up To Racism said, “Tommy Robinson tried to use his protest to silence solidarity with Palestine… He failed.”
Prosecutors were instructed to consider whether protest placards, banners, and chants viewed on social media may amount to stirring up hatred. The Crown Prosecution Service revised guidance to reflect “the changing international context,” following earlier guidance on fast-tracking hate crime prosecutions. The government blocked 11 foreign nationals described as “far-right agitators” from entering the UK ahead of the Unite the Kingdom rally.
Drones monitored both protest routes, and officers at Wembley monitored CCTV from the FA Cup final to identify supporters travelling towards demonstrations. For the first time under official protest restrictions, organisers and speakers could face prosecution for using events as platforms for extremism or hate speech. Live facial recognition was used for the first time in a protest policing operation, with cameras set up in Camden.
