Tens of thousands rally in London in rival immigration and pro-Palestinian marches

LONDON: Tens of thousands of people took part in two separate demonstrations in central London on Saturday, with one march focused on opposition to high levels of immigration and another held in support of Palestinians.

Police said they had deployed 4,000 officers, including reinforcements from outside the capital, in what they described as their biggest public order operation in years. The force said it would make the most assertive possible use of its powers. By 1200 GMT, shortly after both marches began, police said 11 people had been arrested for a range of offences. They had earlier estimated turnout at at least 80,000.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer criticised the organisers of the Unite the Kingdom march a day earlier. In a post on X on Friday, he said, "I’ll always champion peaceful protest. But the Unite the Kingdom march organisers are peddling hatred and division. We’ve already blocked visas for far-right agitators who want to come here to spew their extremist views. They don't speak for the decent, fair, respectful Britain…."

The anti-immigration march was organised by anti-Islam activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who is known as Tommy Robinson. The government said it had barred 11 people it described as foreign far-right agitators from entering Britain to speak at the protest.

A previous protest led by Robinson in September drew around 150,000 people, according to police, and included a video address by US tech billionaire Elon Musk. More than 20 people were arrested at that event, and police are still looking for more than 50 suspects.

Immigration concerns and political backdrop

Supporters of Robinson gathered in central London carrying mostly British and English flags. One participant, Allison Parr, said, "I think that too much migration — not migration, but too much migration — is causing a lot of problems, upsetting a delicate balance here."

She also criticised net-zero environmental policies. Annual net migration was close to 900,000 in 2022 and 2023, but fell to around 200,000 last year after tighter work visa rules were introduced.

Concern over immigration, including the arrival of asylum seekers on small boats, has affected Starmer’s popularity and helped the right-wing Reform UK party, whose leader Nigel Farage has distanced himself from Robinson. Some protesters directed abuse at Starmer during Saturday’s march.

Robinson, who has convictions for assault, stalking and other offences, had urged supporters earlier in the week to remain peaceful at what he described as

the greatest patriotic display the world has ever seen

.

Earlier this year, he travelled to the United States, where he met a State Department official and spoke to supporters about what he called

the dangers of Islam

and

the Islamification of Great Britain

.

Census figures showed that 6.5% of people in England and Wales identified as Muslim in 2021, up from 4.9% in 2011.

Pro-Palestinian march marks Nakba Day

Nearby, pro-Palestinian demonstrators held a separate march to mark Nakba Day, which commemorates Palestinians’ loss of land in the 1948 war that followed the creation of Israel. Nakba means catastrophe in Arabic.

The demonstration also attracted people opposing the Unite the Kingdom rally, and Palestinian flags were prominent among the crowd.

London has recently seen a series of arson attacks on Jewish sites, while two Jewish men were stabbed last month in an incident being treated as terrorism. Police said repeated large pro-Palestinian marches — 33 since the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023 — had left many Jewish people feeling too intimidated to enter central London.

Police said that while protesters expressed a range of views, arrests were routinely made for racially and religiously aggravated public order offences, inciting racial hatred, or supporting proscribed organisations.

The government said police would arrest protesters who chanted

globalise the intifada

, a slogan referring to Palestinian uprisings against Israel that many British Jews regard as incitement to antisemitism.

Some protesters on Saturday chanted

Death to the IDF

, referring to the Israeli army. Police said that phrase had previously led to arrests when directed at Jewish people.