By Michael Holden and Catarina Demony
LONDON (Reuters) -Proper-wing, anti-immigrant protesters and opposing anti-racism demonstrators started massive rallies in London on Saturday, carefully watched by a beefed up police operation aimed toward heading off any clashes between the rival gatherings.
Just a few thousand joined the “Unite the Kingdom” march organised by anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, recognized by the pseudonym Tommy Robinson, with the march heading in the direction of parliament, carrying English and British flags, and banners studying “When will the government act for the British public?”.
In the meantime a counter protest of anti-racism campaigners and commerce unionists additionally gathered, carrying banners saying “refugees welcome” and “smash the far right”.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Rachel Williams, who’s main a policing operation that drafted in officers from across the nation, mentioned they have been properly ready.
“We will have significant resources in place to respond to any incidents, to deal decisively with any offences, and to keep disruption to other members of the public and businesses to a minimum,” she mentioned on Friday.Britain noticed days of rioting in cities and cities throughout the nation on the finish of July within the wake of the homicide of three younger women at a dance workshop in Southport, after misinformation on social media wrongly recognized the suspected killer as a Muslim migrant.
The unrest, which Prime Minister Keir Starmer described as racist and blamed on far-right thuggery, focused accommodations housing asylum seekers and mosques. It ended after police made greater than 1,500 arrests and charged about 1,000 folks.
The correct-wing protesters describe themselves as “patriots”, who say Britain is underneath menace from migrants and Islamification. Their critics, together with most lawmakers, say their quantity contains racists, far-right supporters and soccer hooligans bent on violence.
Yaxley-Lennon, who was accused by some media and politicians of enflaming tensions which led to the riots, was not current on the march as he’s being held in police custody forward of a contempt of courtroom case to be heard on Monday.
On Friday, he was additionally charged underneath terrorism legal guidelines with failing to offer his cell phone PIN code when he left Britain in July.
“We do not care if you are black, brown, white or green, what we care about are shared values, our culture, and the direction of our nation,” a message on his X account mentioned.
The protests come as official figures on Saturday confirmed the variety of asylum seekers crossing the Channel this 12 months from Europe in small boats – a difficulty that has angered many in Britain – hit 29,578, greater than for the entire of 2023.