A massive anti-immigration rally was organised in London by far-right, anti-immigrant activist Tommy Robinson on Sunday. Around 110,000 people marched in the Unite the Kingdom rally, carrying England and British flags and wooden crosses.
The organisers of the rally called it a free speech protest, and supporters chanted against Keir Starmer and demanded “we want our country back.”
Who is Tommy Robinson?
Tommy Robinson, 41, who was born Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is a self-described journalist who says he is exposing ‘state wrongdoings’.
He founded the English Defense League in 2009, a group known for its Islamophobic rhetoric and violent street protests in the 2000s and 2010s.
Robinson has had several criminal convictions over the years and served about five prison terms from 2005 to 2025. He has served for assault, mortgage fraud, passport fraud, multiple contempt of court convictions, and harassment.
He once entered the United States illegally using a false passport and was banned from entering the country in October 2012.
He was released from prison earlier this year after being jailed for violating a 2021 injunction by repeating false claims about a Syrian refugee.
He had also declared bankruptcy in 2021 and admitted to gambling away huge sums while he was accepting donations from supporters.
In 2018, he was banned from Twitter for hateful conduct, and in 2019, he was banned from Facebook and Instagram for breaching hate speech policies. His account on X, which currently has about 1 million followers, was restored after billionaire Elon Musk bought Twitter.
He also had cultivated ties with American right-wing groups and has appeared on Fox News and Infowars. Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio had described him a an inspiration.
What was the rally really about?
IANS reported that the rally was one of the largest right-wing gatherings in the UK in recent times. Robinson praised the turnout and called it “a show of patriotic unity like nothing seen before” and “cultural revolution”. At the rally, he said, “Today is the spark of a cultural revolution in Great Britain. This is our moment.”
Elon Musk, who restored Robinson’s account on X, had also joined in at the rally via a video link where he said, “the left is the party of murder and celebrating murder”.
French far-right politician Eric Zemmour and Petr Bystron of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Zemmour claimed that “freedom of our peoples is in danger” and that there was “great replacement of our European people by peoples coming from the south and of Muslim culture. You and we are being colonised by our former colonies.”
A Sky News report on the rally described it as ‘diverse’; some demonstrators were against migration in general, whereas others only wanted to be rid of illegal migration.
Violent clashes were seen at the rally and about 25 arrests were made accordingt to the police. About 1000 officers were deployed to keep two rival groups apart; a counter demonstration organised by Stand Up to Racism was attended by 5000 people at the same time.
Law enforcement authorities also reported facing unacceptable violence. Fireworks, bottles, and other projectiles were thrown at the officers, and about 26 officers were reported injured, according to the BBC.
Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said, “There is no doubt that many came to exercise their lawful right to protest, but there were many who came intent on violence.”
Who is Tommy Robinson, the figure behind the massive ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally in London?
