LONDON - Right-wing, anti-immigrant protesters and opposing anti-racism demonstrators held large rallies in London on Saturday, with both passing off peacefully amid a beefed-up police operation to prevent any clashes between the rival groups.

Several thousand people waving English and British flags joined the "Unite the Kingdom" nationalist rally by parliament, organised by anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known by the pseudonym Tommy Robinson.

A counter-protest of anti-racism campaigners and trade unionists also took place nearby, with marchers carrying banners saying "Refugees Welcome" and "Smash the Far Right".

Police officers were drafted in from around the country to avert possible unrest, but the London force said on X only a handful of arrests had been made. Britain saw days of rioting in towns and cities across the country at the end of July in the wake of the murder of three young girls at a dance workshop in Southport, after misinformation on social media wrongly identified the suspected killer as a Muslim migrant.

Related

---