Thousands of anti-racists and anti-fascists turned out to counter the Tommy Robinson hate march in central London.
Around 20,000 people from across the trade union movement and beyond turned out. Protesters travelled to London on coaches and trains from as far away as Scotland.
The fascists’ numbers were in a similar ballpark to SUTR’s march, with up to 25,000. This was only marginally more than their previous central London outing in July. This wasn’t the breakthrough the fascists were hoping for.
Given the dramatic call out from Robinson from beyond his remand into custody on the eve of the demonstration, the numbers on his mobilisation were not as bolstered as they could have been. This is an important aspect of yesterday’s events, while the scale of the fascist led demonstration is still extremely worrying and no cause for complacency.
Palestine activists and campaigners against the police killing of Chris Kaba, who had joined the United Families and Friends Campaign rally earlier in the day, took part. The Justice for Chris Kaba campaign spoke at the main rally at the end of the march.
The march route went from Piccadilly to Whitehall and stopped the fascists from assembling at the Cenotaph and from reaching Downing Street.
Those in attendance heard from speakers at the beginning and end of the march, which included Daniel Kebede, the general secretary of the National Education Union, Jeremy Corbyn, Weyman Bennett and Diane Abbott.
Family members of Chris Kaba also spoke, as did representatives from the TUC and migrant and refugee support charity Care4Calais.
Stand Up to Racism helped facilitate the UFFC event by providing use of the stage used for the counter protest.
Here’s the Islamophobic racist rabble showing their true colours:
