[Source: Reuters]
Tens of thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday in two separate protests – one against high levels of immigration and a perceived Islamic threat to British identity, and another in support of Palestinians.
Police deployed 4,000 officers, including reinforcements from outside the capital, and pledged “the most assertive possible use of our powers” in what they called their biggest public order operation in years.
By 1830 GMT, after both marches had ended, police said they had made 43 arrests for a range of offences and described both protests as “largely without significant incident”. They had earlier forecast turnout of at least 80,000.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday accused organisers of the Unite the Kingdom march of “peddling hate and division, plain and simple”.
The march was organised by anti-Islam activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson. The government barred 11 people it described as “foreign far-right agitators” from entering Britain to address the protest.
A previous protest led by Robinson in September drew around 150,000 people, police said, and featured a video address by U.S. tech billionaire Elon Musk. Scuffles left 26 officers injured, including four seriously. On Saturday, four officers were injured, none seriously.
