Twenty-four people were arrested on Sunday (September 14) for violence at the ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally held in London the day before, in which more than one lakh people marched across the UK capital’s streets. The participants at some point clashed with the police, injuring 26 officers, according to authorities. The call for the rally was given by the far-right influencer Tommy Robinson.
What exactly happened on Saturday, and who is Tommy Robinson? Why are so many in the UK angry, and with whom? We explain, in three points.
What happened at the Unite the Kingdom rally?
The rally was purportedly in support of free speech, but had anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim overtones.
Many right wingers, in Europe as well as the US, believe that the ‘liberal media’, the courts, and the authorities act too zealously to support the rights of minorities and refugees, and censor white people’s right to free speech. Robinson himself has recently been released from prison, where he landed after ignoring a court’s orders to not repeat libellous claims about a Syrian refugee. The Syrian youth had successfully sued Robinson for his remarks, but the latter kept repeating them. Robinson had vowed to organise a free speech rally after his prison term was announced.
At the rally Saturday, whose turnout defied police expectations, marchers carried the flags of St George and the UK. They held signs with saying “stop the boats,” “send them home,” and “enough is enough, save our children.” Unauthorised immigrants crossing the English Channel on boats and landing on UK shores has been a major issue in the country over the past few years.
The rally also saw international participation. Elon Musk made a video appearance and called for regime change in the UK.
Far-right French politician Eric Zemmour said, as reported by the AP, “We are both subject to the same process of the great replacement of our European people by peoples coming from the south and of Muslim culture, you and we are being colonised by our former colonies.”
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A counter-rally in support of migrants and against hate speech was also organised, with around 5,000 attendees.
Who is Tommy Robinson?
Like many influencers, Tommy Robinson has donned many hats over the years. The 42-year-old’s real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, and he once owned a tanning salon in Luton, Bedfordshire.
In 2009, he founded the English Defence League, a nationalist group opposed to “radical Islam”, which quickly gained attention for violent street protests. The group has since been disbanded.
He had then told BBC that he opposed hardline Islamists changing the culture of British towns. In 2008, Luton had seen clashes between Muslim groups protesting against soldiers who had returned from Afghanistan and a counter-group.
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Since then, Robinson’s fortunes have swung up and down. He has been to jail several times. In the recent years, his popularity exploded online, especially after a boost from Elon Musk and Steve Bannon.
Today, he is among the most popular far-right faces in the UK.
What is the backdrop of the Unite the Kingdom rally?
Economic turmoil, and people blaming illegal immigrants for taking up already-scarce resources and allegedly worsening the crime rate.
Over the past two months, there have been protests against migrants waiting for asylum being housed in hotels at government expense. In July, one such asylum seeker at The Bell Hotel, Epping, was accused of sexually assaulting a girl. He has denied the charge. The incident became a trigger for mass protests against the immigrants.
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Asylum seekers are kept in hotels because successive UK governments have realised it is easier to board and lodge them than let them seek jobs in a burdened economy, but it has still led to resentment.
Robinson and other far right voices have capitalised on such resentment.
