The streets of London witnessed a massive anti-migration protest on September 13 as more then 1,50,000 protestors hit the streets of London under the slogans such as “Unite the Kingdom” and “reclaiming the country”. The protest was led by the far-right activist Tommy Robinson who described the protest as a cultural revolution in Great Britain. The protest is deemed as one of the biggest protests of the United Kingdom in the recent decades.
Lately, United Kingdom was repeatedly witnessing the anti-migration protests in smaller-scale across many places in the country, especially against those arriving into the country in small boats through the English Channel. Anger against the waves of migration into the country has been piling up for a while now among the citizens and it busted out in a mammoth scale in the latest protest.
Slogans, songs and an assertion of nationalism
Protestors carried the St. George’s Red and White flag of England and also the Union Jack(the national flag of the United Kingdom) and flooded the streets by shouting the slogans such as “we want our country back”, “stop the boats”, “send them home”, “enough is enough, save our children”, “call centres, speak English”. A placard read out a message called “Why are white people despised when our tax money pays for everything?”
The protest also included musical performances which sung the lyrics such as “Making the West look like the Middle East”. These lines were particularly targeted towards the spiking Muslim migration into the country. As an impact, the protestors waved the flags of Muslim Brotherhood, Islamic state and Palestine and later torn down these flags as the crowd cheered with loud noise.
Sandra Mitchell one among the protestor asserted, “We want our country back and we want our free speech back on track. They need to stop illegal migration into this country”. Another protestor mentioned, “I feel our country is being inundated with an ideology that tries to suppress us. I just want our country back”.
Protestors also affirmed that this is not a mere gathering of the far-right people, but it is a protest of the ‘patriots’.
Tommy Robinson, the man who is the lead
Tommy Robinson who is a far-right activist is leading and revolutionizing the entire dramatic protest. He reiterated that the protest is an awakening call for the British and said, “Britain has finally awoken and this is never going away”. The message of Mr. Robinson hints of continued, heavy-weight and prolonged protests against the government until there is a check on the flood of migration into the country.
“Today is the spark of a cultural revolution in Great Britain. This is our moment. This is a tidal wave of patriotism”, said, Tommy Robinson while addressing the huge crowd.
A solid support from Elon Musk and Eric Zemmour
The anti-migration protest led by the far-right activists also has a solid backing from the billionaire businessmen Elon Musk. In a video statement Mr. Musk warned about the further escalation of the protest and also called for the dissolution of the Keir Starmer government. “Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die. That’s the truth, I think”, Mr. Musk reiterated in the video while addressing the crowd.
“There is 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”, Elon Musk further added while addressing the crowd.
Eric Zemmour, the French far-right politician also addressed the protest and said, “The freedom of our peoples is in danger from a great replacement. Our European people being replaced by peoples from the South of Muslim culture”.
PM Starmer silent, Home Secretary vows action against violence
While Britain Prime Minister Keir Starmer remains silent without commenting on the massive protest, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood condemned the protestors and warned that those who attacked or injure the police officers would “face the full force of the law”.
“The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to this nation. Anyone engaging in criminal activity will face the full force of the law”, Shabana Mahmood further added.
Meanwhile, counter-demonstrations and protests were organized against the anti-migration agitation and in favour of the asylum seekers. MP Diane Abbott expressed solidarity with the asylum seekers. “These protests are racist demonstrations. They are some of the most anti-women forces in society, opposing equal pay, dismissing harassment as banter and fighting against the anti-discrimination efforts. So, we are here to stand together and defeat the fascists”, said Diane Abbott.
The United Kingdom, thus, continues to be entangled in debates and agitations with respect to the migration policy of the country. The anti-migration protestors assert that the migrants enjoy more legal protection than the British citizens as the Muslim populace continue to flood the country through illegal routes, leading to a cultural erosion and demographic shift in the UK. Meanwhile, pro-migration factions assert that protestors are creating violence and ruckus in the country who are backed by the foreign tech barons. They also claim that foreigners should not interfere in the domestic issues of the United Kingdom.
