<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A London march organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson drew more than 110,000 people and became unruly as a small group of his supporters clashed with police officers who were separating them from counterprotesters.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Several officers were punched, kicked and struck by bottles tossed by people at the fringes of the “Unite the Kingdom” rally on Saturday (local time - overnight Australian time), the Metropolitan Police said. Reinforcements with helmets and riot shields were deployed to support the 1000-plus officers on duty.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Twenty-six police officers were injured — four who were seriously hurt, including broken teeth and a concussion, a possible broken nose and a spinal injury. At least 25 people were arrested for offences including violent disorder, assaults and criminal damage, and the investigation continues, police said.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/charlie-kirk-shooting-people-fired-celebrating-death/d10d62ed-7c2e-4544-8f5e-1eeea0f21841"><strong><span>People are getting fired for allegedly celebrating Charlie Kirk's murder</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“There is no doubt that many came to exercise their lawful right to protest, but there were many who came intent on violence," Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“They confronted officers, engaging in physical and verbal abuse and making a determined effort to breach cordons in place to keep everyone safe.”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The rally drew an estimated crowd of between 110,000 and 150,000 people, far surpassing expectations, police said. The rival “March Against Fascism” protest organised by Stand Up To Racism had about 5000 marchers.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/london-far-right-protests-violent-clashes/d9cf553e-7c0f-4b20-a829-da2584ab89a6" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Anti-migrant theme</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, founded the nationalist and anti-Islam English Defence League and is one of the most influential far-right figures in Britain.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The march was billed as a demonstration in support of free speech — with much of the rhetoric by influencers and several far-right politicians from across Europe aimed largely at the perils of migration, a problem much of the continent is struggling to control.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“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,” far-right French politician Eric Zemmour said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/charlie-kirk-shooting-update-how-intuition-of-tyler-robinson-father-led-to-arrest/ebfa0f8c-f907-40b1-bec5-1bffc5ad5a9e"><strong><span>Father's intuition led to the arrest of suspect in Charlie Kirk's murder</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO and owner of the X platform who has waded into British politics several times this year, was beamed in by video and condemned the left-leaning UK government.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“There’s something beautiful about being British and what I see happening here is a destruction of Britain, initially a slow erosion, but rapidly increasing erosion of Britain with massive uncontrolled migration," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Robinson told the crowd in a hoarse voice that migrants now had more rights in court than the “British public, the people that built this nation".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The marches come at a time when the UK has been divided by debate over migrants crossing the English Channel in overcrowded inflatable boats to arrive on shore without authorisation.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Numerous anti-migrant protests were held this summer outside hotels housing asylum-seekers following the arrest of an Ethiopian man who was later convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in a London suburb. Some of those protests became violent and led to arrests.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/police-investigate-shots-fired-at-western-sydney-home/b985af1c-e3c1-4736-8076-c63782b6e1a6"><strong><span>Bullets riddle suburban home with women and teenager inside</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Sea of flags</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Participants in the “Unite the Kingdom” march carried the St George’s red-and-white flag of England and the Union Jack and chanted “we want our country back.”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>UK flags have proliferated this summer across the country — at events and on village lampposts — in what some have said is a show of national pride and others said reflects a tilt toward nationalism.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Supporters held signs saying “stop the boats,” “send them home,” and “enough is enough, save our children".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At the counterprotest, the crowd held signs saying “refugees welcome” and ”smash the far right,” and shouted “stand up, fight back".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Robinson supporters chanted crude refrains about UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the leader of the centre-left Labour Party, and also shouted messages of support for slain US conservative activist Charlie Kirk.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Several speakers paid tribute to Kirk, who was remembered in a moment of silence, followed by a bagpiper playing </span><em><span>Amazing Grace</span></em><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>One demonstrator held a sign saying: “Freedom of speech is dead. RIP Charlie Kirk.”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/side-hustle-success-story-candy-claws-founders-made-20-million/50ed5853-0318-4358-9d86-9eb116821ebb"><strong><span>These siblings started a business with a few hundred bucks. It's made $20 million</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Crowd covered blocks of London</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The crowd at one point stretched from Big Ben across the River Thames and around the corner beyond Waterloo train station, a distance of about a kilometre.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The marches had been mostly peaceful, but toward the late afternoon, “Unite the Kingdom” supporters threw items at the rival rally and tried to break through barriers set up to separate the groups, police said. Officers had to use force to keep a crowd-control fence from being breached.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Counterprotesters heckled a man with blood pouring down his face who was being escorted by police from the group of Robinson supporters. It wasn’t immediately clear what happened to him.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While the crowd was large, it fell far short of one of the biggest recent marches when a pro-Palestinian rally drew an estimated 300,000 people in November 2023.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Robinson had planned a “Unite the Kingdom” rally last October, but couldn’t attend after being jailed for contempt of court for violating a 2021 High Court order barring him from repeating libellous allegations against a Syrian refugee who successfully sued him. He previously served jail time for assault and mortgage fraud.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><strong><span>Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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