A crowd of 110,000 people packed central London on Saturday for a march and rally led by far-right activist Tommy Robinson, prompting a large police deployment and a .
The rally highlighted rising anti-immigration sentiment in Britain as gains traction in polls and protesters target hotels housing asylum seekers.
What happened at the rally?
Robinson, 42 and whose real name is , praised the event as the country’s “biggest free speech festival” and a push to “Unite the Kingdom.”
Participants, many draped in English and British flags, marched over Westminster Bridge before converging near Downing Street to hear speeches from far-right figures from Europe and North America.
Attendees voiced anger over immigration and what they described as perceived restrictions on free speech.
“The silent majority will be silent no longer,” Yaxley-Lennon told the crowd, calling the gathering the “spark of a cultural revolution.”
Placards at the rally carried slogans such as “stop the boats,” along with photos of US activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot dead earlier this week.
Metropolitan Police estimated the turnout at roughly 110,000, citing CCTV and helicopter footage.
The authorities deployed about 1,000 officers and imposed conditions on routes and timing to keep the far-right rally separate from a nearby Stand Up to Racism march, which drew around 5,000 people. Veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott addressed the counter-protest, calling Yaxley-Lennon’s message “dangerous” and urging solidarity with asylum seekers.
Who else spoke at the far-right rally?
Speakers announced for the day included , Canadian psychologist and activist Jordan Peterson, and Petr Bystron of Germany’s . was expected to address the crowd remotely.
The demonstration came just over a year after . It also follows government moves to , controversies that have fueled wider debates over free speech.
Yaxley-Lennon was sentenced to 18 months in prison in October 2024 for contempt of court, but was released in May this year after his sentence was cut short. The conviction was linked to a previous case, when a Syrian refugee successfully sued him for libel in 2021 over false claims that the refugee had violently attacked young English girls.
Edited by: Darko Janjevic
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