Thousands of Tommy Robinson supporters marched through central London today.
A demonstration left Victoria Station to reach Westminster before it was ground to a halt at Buckingham Gate.
‘Shall we burst through and f*** [the police] up?’ one man shouted. Others urged for calm, with one saying: ‘The police are trying to rile us up. It is a disgrace. We need to try and stay calm.
‘We started, why have we stopped? We need to smile. They want a problem.’
Later there was ‘a brief moment of shoving’ near the stage of an anti-fascist counter-protest, leading to two arrests, according to police.
One was arrested for a public order offence and a breach of the peace, while the other was arrested for a racially aggravated public order offence.
Police subsequently de-arrested one of them.
Chants of ‘Oh Tommy, Tommy’ carried as the main demonstration reached Parliament where it was met with heavy police presence.
People at the front of the march carried a sign with ‘Two tier Keir fuelled the riots’ written on it. Other cards said ‘Bring back Rwanda’ and ‘Stop the Boats’.
Some appeared to chant ‘Who the f*** is Allah?’ and ‘We want Tommy out!’ while drinking from beer cans.
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Although Robinson wasn’t at the protest in person, he did appear in a video message in which he criticised alleged two-tier policing and London’s Ulez charges.
The crowd booed when an image of Prime Minister Keir Starmer appeared on the same screen at the front of the demonstration.
Why is Tommy Robinson not at the protest?
Far-right activist Tommy Robinson is absent from the protest – that he organised – after being charged with a terror offence on Friday.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was remanded into custody by police on Friday.
He is accused of being in contempt of court following the airing of a film at a rally in central London.
After attending Folkestone Police station, he was separately charged with failing to provide his mobile phone pin to police under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000, Kent Police said.
A post from his X account last night said: ‘We do not care if you are black, brown, white or green, what we care about are shared values, our culture, and the direction of our nation.’
Is Laurence Fox at the London protest?
Former GB News host Laurence Fox, who dubbed Robinson a ‘political prisoner’, pulled out of the protest over concerns it would not proceed peacefully.
In a post on X, the former actor said: ‘Having been involved in the planning and funding of the previous marches and having some understanding of the huge efforts required to make these events pass peacefully, I am concerned that the current climate makes our task even more onerous.
‘I am not sufficiently reassured that the preparations which have been put in place to ensure the first marches passed so peacefully is sufficiently robust to make sure this one does the same. I am sincerely looking forward to being proved wrong.’
Riot police gear up for clashes near Parliament
Riot police arrived at Westminster ahead of the demonstration, which set off more than an hour ahead of an agreed 12.30pm start time.
Many of the the English Defence League founder’s supporters are holding signs saying ‘enough is enough’ and ‘immigrants are not welcome, stop rewarding, start deporting, defend our borders’.
There are chants of ‘free Tommy Robinson’, ‘we want Tommy out’ and ‘who the f*** is Allah, I’m England until I die’ from attendees.
One protester told : ‘This is all about freedom. The country is corrupt.’
Counter-protesters gather at the other end of Whitehall after a march from Regent Street, organised by Stand Up To Racism, which described it as a ‘massive anti-fascist demonstration’.
Both demonstrations are supposed to remain static, but police are on site in case tensions bubble over.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Rachel Williams said: ‘We are well prepared for what is set to be a busy day in the centre of London.
‘Our role is to ensure that those attending the various events can do so safely and that they can exercise their right to lawful protest.
‘We will have significant resources in place to respond to any incidents, to deal decisively with any offences, and to keep disruption to other members of the public and businesses to a minimum.
‘We know that when groups with opposing views come together it can lead to conflict and disorder and a key part of our role is ensuring that does not happen.
‘We have used Public Order Act conditions to ensure that those involved stick to routes and assembly areas that are sufficiently far apart.
‘Officers will be monitoring closely to ensure that conditions are adhered to.
‘The impact of frequent significant protest in central London is considerable, not least on the officers deployed to police them.
‘Many would be working in other frontline roles if they weren’t required for these events.
‘We’re grateful for the assistance of colleagues from other forces whose contribution means we are able to police protests while also keeping local communities across London safe.’
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