LONDON: Right-wing, anti-immigrant protesters and opposing anti-racism demonstrators held large rallies in London on Saturday, with both passing off peacefully amid a beefed-up police operation to prevent any clashes between the rival groups.

Several thousand people waving English and British flags joined the “Unite the Kingdom” nationalist rally by parliament, organised by anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known by the pseudonym Tommy Robinson.

A counter-protest of anti-racism campaigners and trade unionists also took place nearby, with marchers carrying banners saying “Refugees Welcome” and “Smash the Far Right”. Police officers were drafted in from around the country to avert possible unrest, but the London force said on X only a handful of arrests had been made.

Britain saw days of rioting in towns and cities across the country at the end of July in the wake of the murder of three young girls at a dance workshop in Southport, after misinformation on social media wrongly identified the suspected killer as a Muslim migrant.

The unrest, which Prime Minister Keir Starmer described as racist and blamed on far-right thuggery, targeted hotels housing asylum seekers and mosques. It ended after police made more than 1,500 arrests and charged about 1,000 people.

The right-wing protesters who marched on Saturday describe themselves as “patriots”, and say Britain is under threat from migrants and Islamification. Their critics, including most lawmakers, say their number includes racists, far-right supporters and soccer hooligans bent on violence.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2024