‘Unite the Kingdom’ Rally in London Draws Massive Crowd

People gathered in London for what was billed as a free speech rally, spearheaded by Tommy Robinson and included an appearance from Elon Musk in a live interview broadcast on stage.

The Metropolitan Police said it estimated around 110,000 were in Whitehall for the Unite the Kingdom event, while organizers said helicopter footage showed millions of people attending the rally.

Many in the crowd carried flags including the St George’s Cross, the Union Jack, the Scottish saltire, and Welsh dragon; others carried wooden crosses and sang Christian songs.

Robinson is known in Britain for his long-standing anti-Islamic campaigning and more recently has focused on issues of free speech.

The event occurred under a background of growing anti-immigration sentiment, and follows a recent Raise the Colours movement, which has seen Union Jacks and Crosses of St. George hoisted in huge numbers across England.

Chants in support of Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, could be heard alongside chants critical of the prime minister. Police said there had been no incidents of note as the protesters marched from near Waterloo to the south side of Whitehall.

Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk who was assassinated at a college campus in Utah on Sept. 10 was honored at the event as having inspired a generation of young people.

Echoing the themes of other speakers, Musk told the crowd: “I want Britain to remain Britain. I think that has there’s something beautiful about being British. And what I see happening is a destruction of Britain, initially a slow erosion, but a rapidly increasing erosion of Britain, with massive uncontrolled migration.”

Like Robinson, Musk also blamed the government for what is known in England as the grooming gang scandal—the large-scale systematic exploitation and rape of white working class girls by gangs of Pakistani heritage—which occurred over a period of two decades.

The grooming gangs scandal has been a key campaigning issue for Robinson over the past decade.

Meanwhile, a counter-protest, dubbed March Against Fascism, organized by Stand Up To Racism (SUTR) is also taking place in London on the north side of Whitehall, with around 5,000 people attending, according to Met estimates.

Both demonstrations were separated by barriers with a “sterile area” to minimize the risk of clashes between the groups.

Robinson had called on attendees of his rally to not wear masks, drink alcohol, or be violent.

Strict conditions have been imposed under the Public Order Act on where and when campaigners can protest, the Met said, with the SUTR event ending at 4pm and the Unite the Kingdom event finishing at 6pm.

Five Premier League football matches are also set to take place on Saturday, including derbies between West Ham and Tottenham, and Brentford and Chelsea.

More than 1,600 officers were to be deployed in total across the city, with 500 brought in from other forces, the Metropolitan Police said.

But, police said, the Robinson crowd was too big to fit into Whitehall and confrontation broke out when police tried to stop them from accessing the area from different routes.

A spokesman said: “When officers moved in to stop them, they faced unacceptable violence. They were assaulted with kicks and punches. Bottles, flares and other projectiles were thrown.

“Nine arrests have been made so far for various offenses, but many more people have been identified as committing offenses.”

Robinson, has been politically active in the UK for years, initially rising to fame as co-founder of the English Defence League (EDL) in 2009. The EDL and Robinson himself were often accused of being far-right, and of espousing fascist views—something which Robinson has always denied.

He severed ties with the organization in 2013, and it has since become defunct.

The main focus of his campaigns in the past have been critical of Islam, but more recently they have shifted to issues of free speech.

Robinson has frequently stated he believes he has been unfairly targeted by the British authorities for his political views and has denied allegations of racism.

PA Media contributed to this report.