Tommy Robinson didn’t take long to take advantage of his ban on entering within the M25 being lifted (through a technicality). Today he mobilised a rag-tag of the far right, football hooligans and others who had been active in anti-lockdown protests to gather in Victoria and march to Parliament Square. There he screened his documentary ‘Lawfare’ in which he peddles the claim that the UK has a two-tier policing system, even though rumours were circulating earlier that the police were considering banning him from doing so.

The Metropolitan Police stated in advance that they were grateful that Robinson had publicly discouraged violence at the event but added that they were aware that many attending had a history of violent disorder and were known football hooligans, and that they were expecting violence would be directed at police officers. The march, in part, was a call for Metropolitan Police chief, Mark Rowley to resign.

The Metropolitan police statement went on to say:

“We also understand why the concern goes beyond the potential for officers to be targeted. For some in London, in particular our Muslim communities, comments made by those associated with this event will also cause fear and uncertainty. All Londoners have a right to feel and be safe in their city and we will take a zero-tolerance approach to any racially or religiously motivated hate crime we become aware of.”

Robinson had claimed that the protest would be ‘massive’ and while we won’t quibble over defining that term, it is of great concern to the anti-fascist and anti-racist movement that he was able to draw a pretty substantial number of people that did really pack the streets. Estimates were originally that 2,500 to 3,000 had gathered but by the time the march had started from Victoria the numbers were looking at possibly 6,500 to 7,000.

Many had probably emerged from the numerous pubs between Victoria and Westminster. The Metropolitan police even noted on Twitter/X that many were ‘intoxicated’, and photos appeared of some urinating in the street.

Robinson, always keen to court an audience, live-streamed the march with reports that the livestream had quickly reached more than 100,000 views, with that number rapidly increasing and no doubt with many views to come after the event. The impact of this as a propaganda tool should not be underestimated – it could bolster numbers at any future mobilisations.

As ‘resting’ actor and failed far-right politician Laurence Fox strolled alongside Robinson, smoking a roll-up, chants of “We want our country back” were heard as well as anti-Muslim chants, while a prominent banner stated “This is London, not Londonistan”.

Robinson was clearly delighted at the turn-out saying when he took to the stage in Parliament Square: “This is what London should look like,’’ adding “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. Why does it feel like I’m winning?” As he thanked the thousands who turned out, he said: “We’re not going to be silenced any longer.”

It seems that the numbers in Parliament Square thinned out considerably during the screening of the ‘Lawfare’ documentary on a screen that must have cost Robinson a fair bit to hire.

At 3.38 pm the Metropolitan police Twitter/X account advised those at the Robinson protest to leave via Victoria station. At 5.16pm another Met tweet stated that two arrests had been made in the vicinity of Parliament Square. One, not surprisingly was for a drunk and disorderly offence, and the other was for an incident where a “woman was subjected to racial abuse”.

The fact that the counter protest, called by Stand Up To Racism and supported by many other groups and trade unions, some of which spoke in Whitehall, was unable to mobilise really significant numbers should be of concern.

There had been very strict conditions laid down by the police ahead of the march, dictating that any counter-protest had to be static. Barriers were in place, with police blocking anyone from entering Whitehall from Parliament Square or vice versa. Anyone entering Whitehall from Trafalgar Square had to pass through a police cordon and state if they were attending one of demonstrations – to be directed on the route to take depending on which demo. A few tourists wanting to have their photos taken on Horse Guards parade were also allowed that far.

We need to be alert to future events – whether planned and announced or ‘flash-mobs’ / ‘pop-ups’ – in the coming weeks and months as this is likely to be the first of many outings now that the football season is over. We need to have our ears to the ground and be ready to mobilise at short notice to ensure that the far right don’t steal the streets from us, the majority.