London – Chanting “No pasarán” and waving handmade placards, an estimated 20,000 people marched through central London on Saturday to denounce the rise of far-right politics in the United Kingdom and across Europe, according to police and organisers.
The procession, led by the activist network Stand Up To Racism and backed by the Trades Union Congress, set off from the BBC’s Broadcasting House shortly after noon before winding down Regent Street and Whitehall to a rally in Parliament Square. Steel barriers lined the two-mile route as mounted officers and community liaison teams flanked the largely peaceful crowd.
“We’re here because we refuse to let hatred become normalised,” said Bernadette Thompson, a nurse from South London who travelled with a delegation from the public-sector union Unison. “When refugees are demonised and conspiracy theories flourish online, we all have a duty to speak up.”
The demonstration comes days after a Home Office bulletin showed racially and religiously aggravated offences rose 22 percent last year, and amid a string of small but high-profile rallies by the British chapter of the pan-European group Pegida. Analysts say the U.K. general election expected later this year has sharpened the rhetoric on immigration and national identity.
Inspector Ravi Dhillon of the Metropolitan Police’s public-order unit told reporters three arrests were made “for minor public-order offences” and that more than 1,000 officers had been deployed “to keep rival groups apart and facilitate lawful protest.” No serious injuries were reported.
Counter-demonstrations by the self-styled “Patriots Alliance” gathered fewer than 200 people on Victoria Embankment, police said, and were kept behind cordons. Social-media footage appearing to show isolated scuffles is under review.
Government ministers did not attend the march, but a spokesperson for the Home Office said in a statement that “there is no place for extremism of any kind in our society” and highlighted a £70 million programme aimed at tackling online radicalisation.
Looking ahead, analysts warn that economic uncertainty and the migration debate could provide fertile ground for extremist narratives during the election campaign. “If mainstream parties fail to offer credible answers, we may see fringe groups gaining influence at local level,” said Dr. Aisha Rahman, a political scientist at King’s College London. Organisers have already announced follow-up rallies in Manchester and Glasgow for late spring.