Tommy Robinson protest ‘klaxon call’ for MPs to address immigration – Kyle

Tommy Robinson’s “Unite the Kingdom” protest is a “klaxon call” for MPs to address immigration and other public concerns, a Cabinet minister has said.

Twenty-four people were arrested and 26 police officers were injured, including four who were seriously hurt, at the far-right activist’s event in London on Saturday, the Metropolitan Police said.

Between 110,000 and 150,000 people turned out for the protest, significantly exceeding the estimates of organisers, while around 5,000 anti-racism campaigners mounted a counter-protest.

People were arrested for a range of offences including affray, violent disorder, assault and criminal damage, after both events began largely without incident.

Business Secretary Peter Kyle said the Government is determined to “start to bring communities back together again” in light of the fractious scenes, but he conceded so far it is “something that we have not solved”.

Speaking on BBC’s Sunday Morning With Laura Kuenssberg, he said: “There are communities that are being driven further apart, and there are figures such as Tommy Robinson that is able to touch into a sense of disquiet and grievance in the community in our society.

“A lot of it goes back to its roots in the financial crisis and the impact that had on communities around the country, and we haven’t been able to bring our communities back together again since.

“I think these are moments that are klaxon calls to us in public life to redouble our efforts to address the big concerns that people right across our country have, and immigration is a big concern.”

The protest featured a guest appearance from Tesla and X owner Elon Musk, who called for an urgent change in Government in the UK and told protesters to “fight back” or “die”.

Mr Kyle described the tech billionaire’s comments as “slightly incomprehensible” and “totally inappropriate”, adding: “But what we saw yesterday was over 100,000 people who were expressing freedom of association, freedom of speech, and proving that both of those things are alive and well in this country.”

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood condemned the violent scenes on Saturday and vowed that anyone “taking part in criminal activity will face the full force of the law”.

Three of the 24 people arrested were women with the rest being men, while the youngest and oldest people detained at the protest were aged 19 and 58 respectively, the Met said on Sunday.

A number of people were arrested for more than one offence.

The force added officers were working to identify other people involved in disorder with a view to making further arrests “in the coming days and weeks.”

Assistant Met Commissioner Matt Twist said on Saturday that police faced a “wholly unacceptable” level of violence, adding: “Officers went into today’s operation knowing it would be busy and potentially challenging. They policed without fear or favour and approached engagement with all protesters positively.

“There is no doubt that many came to exercise their lawful right to protest, but there were many who came intent on violence. They confronted officers, engaging in physical and verbal abuse and making a determined effort to breach cordons in place to keep everyone safe.

“The violence they faced was wholly unacceptable. Twenty-six officers were injured, including four seriously – among them broken teeth, a possible broken nose, a concussion, a prolapsed disc and a head injury.”

A stage was set up to hear a series of speeches from far-right personalities and politicians and included an interview between Robinson and Musk, who accorded with the overriding theme of the day by proclaiming the “destruction of Britain” because of “massive uncontrolled migration”.

Police said the Robinson crowd was too big to fit into Whitehall and confrontation happened when officers tried to stop them from encircling counter-protesters and accessing the area from different routes.

Some people turned off on to Victoria Embankment to get out of the crowds, which the police described as “understandable”.

Projectiles were thrown by Robinson protesters towards the counter-demonstrators as thousands from both sides stared each other down on Whitehall.

A line of police horses faced the sea of Union flags, and at one point a glass bottle appeared to smash against a horse, causing the horse and rider to stagger backwards.

Scuffles broke out as police used batons to try and push back thousands of Robinson supporters gathered on the top of Whitehall and Trafalgar Square in order to allow counter-protesters to leave safely.

Later, more than 100 helmeted officers, along with dozens of mounted police, pushed Robinson supporters, by this point largely dispersed, back further from Trafalgar Square and towards Embankment station.

As well as Musk, the “Unite” protest featured speeches from Robinson and other activists, including former actor Laurence Fox, former Apprentice candidate Katie Hopkins, along with musical performers.

It also featured far-right French politician Eric Zemmour, who came in fourth place in the first round of the 2022 French presidential election; leader of the Danish People’s Party Morten Messerschmidt; Petr Bystron of the far-right Alternative for Germany party; Polish right-wing politician Dominik Tarczynski; Belgian anti-immigration activist Filip Dewinter; and television personality Ant Middleton who is running to be Mayor of London.