Thousands of people are expected to march on Parliament Square on Saturday for a rally organised by anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson. Eleven foreign “far-right agitators” will not be among them. The government said it has blocked all eleven from entering the country to attend the Unite the Kingdom event.
Sir Keir Starmer put it in stark terms in a statement on Friday. “We’re in a fight for the soul of this country, and the Unite the Kingdom march this weekend is a stark reminder of exactly what we are up against,” he said. He called the organisers hatemongers: “peddling hatred and division, plain and simple.” Those trying to enter the UK “who seek to incite hatred and violence” will be stopped, he said, and anyone planning “to wreak havoc on our streets, to intimidate or threaten anyone” can expect “the full force of the law.”
The BBC approached Unite the Kingdom for comment. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, posted on X on Friday: “Keir Starmer’s regime are the enemy of the British people. Descend on London.”
Two marches and a cup final
The same day, an annual pro-Palestinian demonstration, the Nakba Day march, ends at Waterloo Place. Tens of thousands of football fans are also due at Wembley Stadium for the FA Cup Final. The Metropolitan Police expect one of their busiest days in recent years and have drafted in more than 4,000 officers, worried about clashes if the rival protests overlap.
The force says the risks require the “highest degree of control.” That includes the first use of live facial recognition cameras in a protest policing operation, at the Unite the Kingdom rally. Lindsey Chiswick, the Met’s head of facial recognition, told BBC Radio 4’s World at One that intelligence points to a likely threat to public safety. The cameras will sit on the outskirts, she said: “we’re not deploying this at the protest, we’re not deploying in the middle of the march.” She added that the technology can help protect peaceful protesters by spotting “the people there to cause violent harm.”
Drones will be used to identify suspects, armoured vehicles are on standby and every officer will carry riot gear. Specialist officers are ready to arrest and charge hate speech offences quickly. Those could include arrests over chants referring to “intifada” at the pro-Palestinian march.
Prosecutors weigh in
The Crown Prosecution Service has issued new guidance that pushes prosecutors to consider whether placards, banners and chants seen on social media may amount to stirring up hatred. Director of public prosecutions Stephen Parkinson said: “This is not about restricting free speech. It is about preventing hate crime and protecting the public, particularly at a time of heightened tensions.”
“Where the line into criminality is crossed, we will not hesitate to prosecute,” he said.
