London police say officers arrested 43 people during two marches on Saturday – one organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson and a counter-demonstration fused with a pro-Palestinian protest. Robinson, co-founder of the English Defence League, called on his supporters to prepare for the next "battle of Britain".
More than 4,000 police officers were deployed in London, the biggest operation in years by the city's Metropolitan Police, to manage a so-called "sterile zone" between Robinson's "Unite the Kingdom" march and the anti-fascism rally organised by the Stand Up to Racism group.
The latter had combined its protests with those marking Nakba Day, which commemorates the displacement of Palestinians during the war surrounding Israel's creation in 1948-49.
The huge operation cost an estimated £4.5m.
The Met – which had already disclosed making 43 arrests Saturday after tens of thousands people attended the two events – said Sunday that 11 of those detained were either non-affiliated or their links was unconfirmed.
The "Unite the Kingdom" march was organised by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson, who co-founded the anti-Islam English Defence League in 2009.
Police had feared clashes after violent confrontations at Robinson's last London event in September, when up to 150,000 people turned out, and various incidents at dozens of pro-Palestine demonstrations since 2023.
But there were no serious clashes between protesters on the two marches. Police estimated the number of demonstrators to be far lower than last year, at about 60,000.
The government barred 11 people it described as "foreign far-right agitators" from entering Britain to address the protest.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday accused organisers of the Unite the Kingdom march of "peddling hate and division, plain and simple".
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In its update Sunday, the Met said there were 11 arrests for hate crime related offences, with nine of those at the Unite the Kingdom event and two at the Nakba Day march.
"They included offences motivated by race, religion, sexuality and disability," the force said, adding a further seven suspected hate crimes at the pro-Palestinian protest remain under investigation.
The other arrests at Robinson's rally ranged from public order and drunk and disorderly offences to suspects being held for previous grievous bodily harm and telecommunications offences.
There were two arrests for assault on an emergency worker and one for possession of an offensive weapon.
At the Nakba Day demonstration, the arrests included three for failing to remove a face covering, one for assault on an emergency worker and one for supporting a proscribed organisation.
Robinson, a former football hooligan, had urged his attendees not to wear masks or drink excessive alcohol, and to be "peaceful and courteous".
From a stage in Parliament Square, which featured various far-right and other speakers, he said: "We are awakening Great Britain – the cultural awakening, the cultural revolution, the spiritual awakening, it's all underway."
He urged attendees to get politically active ahead of "the battle of Britain" in 2029, when the next general election is due to be held.
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"I think that too much migration – not migration, but too much migration – is causing a lot of problems, upsetting a delicate balance here," said Allison Parr, one of Robinson's supporters, who also criticised net-zero environmental policies.
Annual net migration approached 900,000 in 2022 and 2023, but fell to around 200,000 last year after tighter work visa rules.
Concern over immigration – including the arrival of asylum seekers on small boats – has weighed on Starmer's popularity and boosted the right-wing Reform UK party, whose leader Nigel Farage has distanced himself from Robinson.
The UK has struggled to reduce illegal migrant crossings after near-record numbers in 2025 – contributing to Reform's strong gains in recent elections at the expense of Starmer's Labour Party.
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Robinson, who has convictions for assault, stalking and other offences, travelled to the US earlier this year, where he met a State Department official and addressed supporters about what he called "the dangers of Islam" and "the Islamification of Great Britain".
Census data showed 6.5 percent of people in England and Wales identified as Muslim in 2021, up from 4.9 percent in 2011.
Among those on the main stage at the end of the march were three French women from anti-immigration feminist group Nemesis. They appeared wearing Islamic-style face veils and encouraged jeers before removing the veils to whoops from the crowd and gave a short speech critical of Muslims and immigration.
Later a cellist performed with what appeared to be rashers of raw bacon on his shoulders.
(with newswires)
