Starmer condemns far-right  violence

PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer has vowed that Britain will not allow people to feel unsafe “because of their background or the colour of their skin” after violent clashes erupted at one of the largest far-right rallies the country has ever seen.

Speaking last Sunday (14), a day after the “Unite the Kingdom” march led by activist Tommy Robinson, Starmer condemned the violence against police officers and rejected attempts to use national flags as symbols of division.

“People have a right to peaceful protest. It is core to our country’s values. But we will not stand for assaults on police officers doing their job or for people feeling intimidated on our streets because of their background or the colour of their skin,” Starmer said on X. “Britain is a nation proudly built on tolerance, diversity and respect. Our flag represents our diverse country and we will never surrender it to those that use it as a symbol of violence, fear and division”.

According to the Metropolitan Police, around 110,000 to 150,000 people gathered in central London for last Saturday’s (13) demonstration, with crowds waving English and Union flags and chanting anti-immigration slogans. Officers clashed with protesters on the fringes of the rally, leaving 26 police injured, four of them seriously, and leading to at least 24 arrests.

Police described facing “unacceptable violence”, including kicks, punches, bottles, flares and other projectiles. Assistant commissioner Matt Twist said investigations were under way and warned that “robust police action” would follow in the coming days and weeks.

Echoing the same sentiment, home secretary Shabana Mahmood told MPs on Monday (15) that the violence was “abhorrent” and singled out US billionaire Elon Musk, who addressed the crowd by video link, for stoking unrest. “On Saturday, well over 100,000 protesters marched in London. In doing so, many exercised an ancient right, the right to peaceful protest. But not everyone did; some turned on the brave police officers who were there to keep the peace,” she said.

“Those violent thugs will face the full force of the law, but they do not represent who this country really is. When a foreign billionaire calls on our citizens to fight against our ancient democracy, I know this is met by the vast majority with a shake of the head. That is because we are, in truth, a tolerant country. And we are a diverse one too. You can be English with roots here that stretch back 1,000 years. But you can also be English and look like me.”

Protesters march through London waving national flags during the ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally last Saturday (13)

She went on to echo Starmer’s defence of Britain’s national symbols. “The St George’s Cross and the Union Jack are symbols of unity and must never be hijacked by those seeking to spread division. Whether you are a hostile state or a hostile foreign billionaire, no one gets to mess with British democracy,” she said.

Mahmood, one of the most senior Muslim women in British politics, also delivered a personal message: “British citizens look like me. We are proud to be both British and part of this diverse heritage.”

Sunder Katwala, director of the thinktank British Future, said the size of the rally and Musk’s speech represented a dangerous escalation. “The scale of Saturday’s march will have sent a shudder of fear through many people from ethnic minority backgrounds and beyond. Tommy Robinson is a polarising and broadly unpopular figure among the public as a whole but the scale of turnout shows his increasing ability to mobilise a vocal minority who strongly believe that they speak for this country,” he told Eastern Eye.

“A large section of the crowd would not see a ‘Unite the Kingdom’ event as far right with its mix of themes of immigration, free speech, identity and culture. But the organisers had no qualms about platforming extreme content, including removing the freedom of religious expression.”

Katwala warned that the most alarming aspect of the rally was hearing one of the world’s wealthiest figures appear to endorse violence. He argued that Musk’s remarks went further than Enoch Powell’s controversial “Rivers of Blood” speech, which had predicted unrest to shape policy. In contrast, Musk’s call for pre-emptive confrontation, telling people to either fight or face death and erasure, risked placing asylum seekers, migrants, minority communities and even democratic leaders in danger.

He added that, after the riots of last summer, it was deeply irresponsible to give legitimacy to such rhetoric. According to him, Parliament should consider formally censuring Musk, with the government’s future use of his platforms, and even his right to enter the UK, depending on a retraction. He cautioned that calls for civil conflict must not be allowed to become accepted as part of normal political debate.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, told the rally that Britain’s courts had placed the rights of asylum seekers above those of the “local community”. Referring to a recent case in Essex where asylum seekers were allowed to be housed at a local hotel, he accused judges of betraying the British people.

“They told the world that Somalians, Afghans, Pakistanis, all of them, their rights supersede yours – the British public, the people that built this nation,” he declared.

Far-right activist Tommy Robinson attends the demonstration

Many demonstrators carried placards reading “send them home” and wore “Make America Great Again” hats, while others brought children to the rally. One supporter, Sandra Mitchell, said: “Today is the spark of a cultural revolution in Great Britain, this is our moment. We want our country back.”

Via video link, Musk went further, telling the crowd: “Violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die.” He also called for the dissolution of parliament and the removal of the Labour government. Anti-racism groups expressed alarm at his intervention. Hope Not Hate described the event as “unprecedented” in scale and warned that speeches demanding “remigration” of legal migrants and banning non-Christian religions showed how extreme messages were being normalised.

The “Stand Up to Racism” counterprotest drew around 5,000 people. Teachers, activists and faith groups marched through nearby streets, holding placards calling for unity and chanting “refugees are welcome here”. One participant, teacher Ben Hetchin, said: “The idea of hate is dividing us and I think the more that we welcome people, the stronger we are as a country.”

Police kept the groups apart, but confrontations occurred when some Robinson supporters attempted to break through barriers.

The protest comes amid a record number of asylum claims in Britain, with more than 28,000 migrants crossing the Channel in small boats so far this year. Immigration has become the most dominant political issue, even surpassing concerns about the economy.

Supporters of the march claim the English and Union flags being displayed across towns represent pride in national identity. Anti-racism campaigners, however, argue that these flags are being used as a message of hostility towards foreigners. For the Labour government, Saturday’s rally is a warning of the challenges ahead. Starmer has pledged to strengthen laws against hate crimes while ensuring the right to peaceful protest.

Mahmood has promised tougher policing of violent disorder.

Anti-racism groups stage a counter-protest against the anti-immigration rall

But campaigners fear that mainstream politics is being destabilised by a mix of online radicalisation and the influence of powerful outsiders such as Musk.

For now, the Metropolitan Police continue their investigations. “Those who assaulted our officers or engaged in violence can expect to be identified and arrested,” Twist said.

The weekend’s events have left the country debating not only how to respond to far-right extremism, but also how to safeguard its democracy, diversity and sense of national unity in an increasingly tense political climate.