The UK faces “the fight of our times” against the division exemplified by the Tommy Robinson-led far-right march in London on Saturday, Keir Starmer has told his cabinet in a robust if arguably belated response to the scenes in the capital.
Starmer made the comments at Tuesday morning’s meeting of his cabinet, Downing Street said. No 10 extended the criticism to Elon Musk, saying many Britons, particularly from minority backgrounds, would have felt intimidated by “calls to violence from foreign billionaire”.
About 110,000 people took part in what was possibly the largest far-right protest in UK history. As well as a speech from Robinson, the anti-Islam activist, the event heard via video link from Musk, the X owner, who said that “violence is coming” and told the crowd that “you either fight back or you die”.
According to a summary of the cabinet meeting, Starmer told his ministers “that some of the scenes of police officers being attacked on Saturday, and a march led by a convicted criminal, were not just shocking but sent a chill through the spines of people around the country, and particularly many ethnic minority Britons”.
It continued: “He said we are in the fight of our times between patriotic national renewal and decline and toxic division. He said the government must heed the patriotic call of national renewal, and that this was a fight that has to be won.”
In the first response from the government, the business secretary, Peter Kyle, said on Sunday that he was not disturbed by the scale of the event or the far-right rhetoric heard at it “because it’s actually proof that we live in a country where free speech, free association, is alive and well”.
The comments prompted disquiet among a number of Labour MPs, and on Sunday afternoon a statement from Starmer said Britain will “never surrender” to far-right protesters who use the English flag as cover for violence and to instil fear.
Asked why the No 10 line had seemingly moved on from Kyle’s view, Starmer’s official spokesperson said this was only part of the picture.
“Obviously, freedom of speech, freedom to march, is a core part of this country’s values,” he said.
“But what he’s saying is, when some people see a convicted criminal egged on by foreign billionaire calling for violence, some people are going to legitimately feel scared and intimidated. Some of that will be because of their background or the colour of their skin.”
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has a series of criminal convictions, including assault, mortgage fraud, using a false passport and stalking a journalist.
Asked if Starmer viewed the march, which resulted in 26 police officers being injured and involved racist conspiracy theories and anti-Muslim hate speech, as a far-right event, Starmer’s spokesperson said: “He’s not characterising it like that. He is making clear, though, that when some people around this country see the scenes of a march being led by a convicted criminal, that they will understandably, or could understandably, feel intimidated or scared.”
