The streets of London turned into a sea of red and white on Saturday as more than 100,000 protesters waving England’s St. George’s Cross and the Union Jack marched under the banner of anti-immigration activist Tommy Robinson. Police called it one of the largest right-wing demonstrations in modern UK history, a show of force that rattled a capital already tense from months of unrest.
The “Unite the Kingdom” rally, Robinson’s flagship event, drew an estimated 110,000 people according to police — dwarfing the nearby “Stand Up to Racism” counter-protest of roughly 5,000. Chants of “send them home” and placards denouncing Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s migration policies cut through central London as demonstrators carried not only English and British flags but also American and Israeli banners, with many donning MAGA hats in solidarity with US President Donald Trump.
Clashes were tense. The Metropolitan Police said multiple attempts were made by Robinson’s followers to breach barriers separating them from counter-demonstrators. Several officers were assaulted, forcing the deployment of reinforcements in riot gear supported by mounted units. Commander Clair Haynes, who led the operation, vowed “robust” policing, insisting Londoners should not feel forced indoors by the scale of the protest.
The rally capped a turbulent summer in Britain marked by rolling demonstrations outside hotels housing migrants and a swelling anti-immigration mood across the country. Reform UK, the insurgent right-wing party topping polls in recent months, kept its distance from Robinson, wary of his long list of criminal convictions. Yet among the crowd, loyalty was absolute. “We believe in Tommy,” read one banner. “We want our country back,” said another protester, Sandra Mitchell, who brought her children to the march.
Robinson himself, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, framed the rally as a fight for free speech. He opened his remarks with a tribute to Charlie Kirk, the American conservative activist assassinated in Utah this week, telling supporters: “Hundreds of thousands already pack the streets of central London as we unite as one for our freedoms.”
The march underscores how immigration has eclipsed economic worries as Britain’s defining political issue. More than 28,000 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats this year — a record that has driven fury in coastal towns and fueled a wave of English flag displays across streets and homes. Supporters call it patriotic defiance. Critics call it coded hostility.
For London, Saturday was a warning shot: the mainstream parties may try to contain the anger, but the sheer numbers on the streets suggest Britain is entering uncharted political territory.
