| PRESS RELEASE – for immediate release -Saturday 26 October |
| Over 20,000 people joined an anti-fascist demonstration today in London against Tommy Robinson. The demonstration – organised by Stand Up to Racism and backed by the TUC, trade unions and faith groups – was a counter protest against far right supporters of Robinson. Organisers said it stopped Robinson’s supporters building momentum on the far right. Robinson was remanded in police custody on Friday, and his supporters gathered today in numbers of up to 25,000. They chanted Robinson’s name alongside several racist and Islamophobic chants including “who the f*ck is Allah”, “Muslim paedos off our streets” and “stop the boats”. Speakers on Robinson’s demonstration included former leader of the fascist PEGIDA street movement, Lutz Bachmann, who was forced to stand down as leader after a photo surfaced of him imitating Hitler. In 2018, the government denied his entry to Britain due to his history of cocaine dealing and incitement to racial hatred charges. The counter demonstration, kept apart by a heavy police presence, heard from speakers including Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott and John McDonnell plus trade union general secretaries. The Stand Up to Racism protest was called under the slogan “Stop Tommy Robinson, stop the far right” and many of the speeches, placards and chants at the event were against the far right and in support of refugees. Weyman Bennett, Stand up to Racism Co-Convenor said: “We marched today in our thousands against the far right. Robinson’s supporters are the same people who took part in far right riots in August that attacked Mosques, migrants and refugees. Today we stopped them by bringing out 20,000 in unity against racism, fascism, Islamophobia and antisemitism. We won’t be divided”. Sabby Dhalu, Stand up to Racism Co-Convenor said: “Today showed a massive display of unity against the far right racist thugs. We mobilised in our thousands against Tommy Robinson’s hate march and the racism and Islamophobia that fed this movement. We will continue to mobilise until we drive the fascists off our streets.” |
