At least 25 people were arrested and 26 police officers were injured – including four who were seriously hurt – at far-right activist Tommy Robinson’s “Unite the Kingdom” protest, the Metropolitan Police has said.
Officers faced a barrage of physical and verbal abuse from demonstrators who wanted to breach cordons at the London protests, which saw between 110,000 and 150,000 people turn out. The event faced counter-protests by around 5,000 anti-racism campaigners
Violence flared at the protest, which featured a guest appearance via video link from Tesla and X owner Elon Musk.
A stage was set up to hear a series of speeches from far-right personalities and politicians and included an interview between Robinson and Musk, who accorded with the overriding theme of the day by proclaiming the “destruction of Britain” because of “massive uncontrolled migration”.
Police said the Robinson crowd was too big to fit into Whitehall and confrontation happened when police tried to stop them from encircling counter-protesters and accessing the area from different routes.
A spokesman said: “When officers moved in to stop them, they faced unacceptable violence. They were assaulted with kicks and punches. Bottles, flares and other projectiles were thrown.
“Nine arrests have been made so far for various offences, but many more people have been identified as committing offences. We will find them and they will face police action, even if it is not possible to do so today.
“Officers are continuing to face aggression in multiple locations, in particular at the north of Whitehall as they work to create a safe exit route for those who have been taking part in the Stand Up To Racism protest.”
The number of people arrested rose following the spokesman’s comments.
Projectiles were thrown by “Unite the Kingdom” protesters towards the counter-demonstrators as thousands from both sides stared each other down.
A line of police horses faced the sea of union flags and at one point, a glass bottle appeared to smash against a horse, causing the horse and rider to stagger backwards.
Scuffles broke out as police used batons to try and push back thousands of Robinson supporters gathered on the top of Whitehall and Trafalgar Square in order to allow counter-protesters to leave safely.
Later, more than a hundred helmeted officers along with dozens of mounted police pushed Robinson supporters, by this point largely dispersed, back further from Trafalgar Square and towards Embankment station.
As well as Musk, the “Unite” protest featured speeches from Robinson and other activists, including former actor Laurence Fox, former Apprentice candidate Katie Hopkins, along with musical performers.
It also featured far-right French politician Eric Zemmour, who came in fourth place in the first round of the 2022 French presidential election; leader of the Danish People’s Party Morten Messerschmidt; Petr Bystron of the far-right Alternative for Germany party; Polish right-wing politician Dominik Tarczynski; Belgian anti-immigration activist Filip Dewinter; and television personality Ant Middleton who is running to be mayor of London.
The “Unite the Kingdom” rally overran the 6pm cut off time imposed by police under the Public Order Act, while the Stand Up To Racism counter protest had been due to finish at 4pm.
