







I left the rally when too many people on Whitehall were getting aggy and I realised the police had shut off all the side roads, making a quick escape impossible.
I went to Tommy Robinson’s “unite the kingdom” rally on Saturday to record an episode of the Guardian’s daily podcast, Today in Focus. Robinson called it “the biggest freedom of speech” rally in British history.
But while rage and frustration are fuelling this movement, this march wasn't a grassroots outpouring of spontaneous anger. It was strategically organised by figures like Yaxley-Lennon, with a...
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I left the Tommy Robinson rally with the worrying realisation: this movement is only going to get bigger | Helen Pidd
Letters: Last Saturday’s Tommy Robinson march should focus our minds on the dangerous urgency of the situation, writes John McDonnell MP. Plus letters from Redbridge councillor Shanelle...
It was a far-right rally, yes, but many people attended unperturbed by the fact it had been billed as such by many media outlets, including the Guardian. They did not feel alienated by such an extreme, and previously fringe, label. In his speech, Robinson said something that I fear may be true.
The rally, organized by Tommy Robinson and described by him as the biggest freedom of speech rally in British history, drew speakers who propagated racist themes and the great replacement conspiracy.
Some in Whitehall were aggressive, some openly racist – but more still felt this far-right gathering was the only place they could be heard, says Guardian journalist Helen Pidd







