Eleven people were arrested for hate crime offences across two huge protests held in London on Saturday, the Metropolitan Police have confirmed.
The rival marches - the Unite the Kingdom rally organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson, and a pro-Palestinian Nakba 78 rally - went ahead relatively peaceably, with 4,000 police officers on duty in an ”unprecedented” policing operation preventing clashes between the rival protests.
But 43 people were still arrested in the policing operation, with 20 of those detained affiliated with the Unite the Kingdom protest, and 12 with the Nakba protest. Eight further arrests were not affilliated with either rally, or it hasn’t been possible to confirm an affiliation, the Met said. Three arrests were the result of live facial recognition.
Police said of the 11 hate crime arrests, two were of Nakba protesters and nine were on the Unite the Kingdom march. Seven other hate crime offences remain under investigation with outstanding suspects police said. One of the arrests at the Nakba protest was for support for a proscribed organsiation.
The arrests included offences motivated by race, religion, sexuality and disability.
The Met Police had vowed an unprecedented crackdown on antisemitism and other hate speech at the marches.
Met chiefs warned people who chanted “Death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces),” “Globalise the Intifada”, anti-Muslim or other hate speech faced arrest and being fast-tracked through the courts.
Organisers of the rallies were also warned they risked prosecution for hate offences at their events under powers being used by Scotland Yard for the first time.
Among the other offences people were arrested for were for assaulting an emergency worker, possession of an offensive weapon, and failure to remove a face covering.
Armoured vehicles, police horses, dogs, drones and helicopters were deployed as the Met aimed to avoid clashes between the two marches, with a so-called "sterile zone" between them, as tens of thousands marched through central London.
The policing operation cost £4.5m, with 660 officers drafted in from elsewhere in the country.
Drones were used to monitor both protest routes, and live facial recognition was used for the first time in a protest policing operation, at Euston and King's Cross St Pancras railway stations.
Setting off in Kingsway and ending in Parliament Square, marchers in the Unite the Kingdom rally called for clampdowns on migration and political change.
Meanwhile, beginning in Kensington and ending in Pall Mall, pro-Palestine demonstrators were marking the 78th anniversary of Nakba - when around 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes.
While official figures haven’t been released by the police, early estimates indicate that around 20,000 people attended the pro-Palestine protest, while around 60,000 attended the Unite The Kingdom protest.
These numbers suggest a far lower attendance than last year’s Unite the Kingdom march, when around 150,000 gathered in September.
The Met have confirmed that 43 people were arrested across the two protests, as of 7.30pm on Saturday.
As of 7.30pm there were 43 arrests at the two protests and an additional 22 at the FA Cup Final.
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) May 16, 2026
Four officers were assaulted today. Fortunately none seriously.
A further six officers were subjected to hate crime offences.
They have called it one of the most significant policing operations in years, with a further 22 arrests made at the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The force also said that four officers were assaulted - none of them seriously - with a further six officers subjected to hate crime offences.
During the Unite the Kingdom march, Union flags were waved, with chants against Prime Minister Keir Starmer being heard. Many wore "Make England Great Again (Mega)" red hats.
Many spoke about wanting to see the end of the current government, and said that white working class people were being discriminated against in the UK.
Tommy Robinson, who spoke on stage in Parliament Square, posted a video on X from the protest, saying: “Keir Starmer, the country’s awake, your days are numbered.”
Mr Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, urged his audience to get involved in politics, including by registering to vote.
He said: “Are you ready for the battle of Britain? 2029 we have an election. We’re not asking anyone to go out and fight, but this is the most important moment in our generation.
“If we don’t send a message in our next election, if you don’t register to vote, if you don’t get involved, if you don’t become activists, we are going to lose our country forever.”
Other speakers at the rally included former LBC presenter Katie Hopkins, actor-turned-politician Laurence Fox, and Siobhan Whyte, the mother of Rhiannon Whyte, who was murdered by a Sudanese asylum seeker.
Ms Whyte told the protest: “Keir Starmer, where do I even begin to discuss this abhorrent excuse of a leader of our country? He has failed us. He has failed my daughter, Rhiannon.
“I believe she would still be alive today if this disgusting excuse of a man had not been in control.”
During the Nakba Day march, protesters carried banners and placards with messages such as "Smash the far right" and "Free Palestinian Hostages", with many attendees wearing keffiyehs.
Many demonstrators described themselves as both anti-genocide and anti-fascism, while a number said that they abhorred antisemitism and there was no place for it at the march.
Speakers at the rally included Your Party co-founders Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, independent MP Diane Abbott and Labour MP Apsana Begum.
Ms Begum told protesters at the rally that the movement would not be divided by the “far right”, while Ms Abbott said that they faced a “common enemy”.
She said: “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, to fight the antisemites.”
Ms Sultana said that Andy Burnham was “not an alternative” to Sir Keir Starmer and “is another establishment politician cut from the same Zionist cloth”, while former Labour leader Mr Corbyn said that Westminster needs a change in “policy” not “personalities”.
Speaking after the protest, co-convenor of Stand Up To Racism Weyman Bennett said: “Tommy Robinson tried to use his protest to silence solidarity with Palestine and divide communities through racism and Islamophobia. He failed.
“Today, thousands of people stood together to defend the right to protest and to say clearly that the far right do not speak for the majority.”
The Nakba protest finished at about 5.30pm, with the Unite the Kingdom protest ending at 6pm, with the Met confirming that both had "proceeded largely without significant incident".
Before the marches, new guidance from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) pushed prosecutors to consider whether protest placards, banners and chants viewed on social media may amount to offences of stirring up hatred.
Officers had been primed to arrest and charge hate speech crimes, including for chants of “death to the IDF” or others referring to “intifada”.
The Government blocked 11 foreign nationals from entering the UK ahead of the Unite the Kingdom rally, described by the Prime Minister as “far-right agitators”.
In a statement on Friday, he said: "We're in a fight for the soul of this country, and the Unite the Kingdom march this weekend is a stark reminder of exactly what we are up against.
"Its organisers are peddling hatred and division, plain and simple. We will block those coming into the UK who seek to incite hatred and violence.
"For anyone who sets out to wreak havoc on our streets, to intimidate or threaten anyone, you can expect to face the full force of the law."
John Rees from Stop the War, one of the organisers of the pro-Palestinian march, said the event happened on the same day every year and questioned why the Unite the Kingdom march was allowed to also take place on May 16.
The Met had previously said it was already in discussion with Unite the Kingdom when the application for the Nakba Day march was made.
