Met police condemn protestors after 25 officers injured by 'projectiles' during Tommy Robinson rally with 25 arrests made

At least 25 people were arrested and 26 police officers were injured – including four who were seriously hurt – at the “Unite the Kingdom” protest, the Metropolitan Police said.

Around 110,000 people were estimated by police to have gathered in Whitehall for the event, which faced counter-protests by around 5,000 anti-racism campaigners.

Objects including a traffic cone, bottles and pieces of wood were thrown at the line of officers as they started to push the group back towards Trafalgar Square and Northumberland Avenue at around 5.25pm.

A stage was set up to hear a series of speeches from far-right personalities and politicians and included an interview between Robinson and tech billionaire Elon Musk, who accorded with the overriding theme of the day by proclaiming the “destruction of Britain” because of “massive uncontrolled migration”.

Musk called for a change of Government in the UK and railed against the "woke mind virus" as he joined via video link.

The X owner called for a "dissolution of Parliament" and said "massive uncontrolled migration" was contributing to the "destruction of Britain".

He also told the crowd that "violence is coming" and that "you either fight back or you die".

The Robinson crowd was too big to fit into Whitehall and the confrontation happened when police tried to stop them from encircling counter-protesters and accessing the area from different routes, the force said.

A spokesman said: “When officers moved in to stop them, they faced unacceptable violence.

They were assaulted with kicks and punches. Bottles, flares and other projectiles were thrown.

Scuffles broke out as police used batons to try and push back thousands of Robinson supporters gathered on the top of Whitehall and Trafalgar Square.

The Home Secretary has condemned protesters who have attacked and injured police officers at a “freedom of speech festival” led by far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

Shabana Mahmood posted on X: “The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to this nation. I thank the police who worked hard to ensure much of today’s protest was peaceful.

“But I condemn those who have attacked and injured police officers. Anyone taking part in criminal activity will face the full force of the law.”

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Later more than a hundred helmeted officers along with dozens of mounted police pushed Robinson supporters, by this point largely dispersed, back further from Trafalgar Square and towards Embankment station.

Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, thanked all officers working the protest today.

As well as Musk, the “Unite” protest featured speeches from Robinson and other activists, including former actor Laurence Fox, former Apprentice candidate Katie Hopkins, along with musical performers.

It also featured far-right French politician Eric Zemmour, who came in fourth place in the first round of the 2022 French presidential election; leader of the Danish People’s Party Morten Messerschmidt; Petr Bystron of the far-right Alternative for Germany party; Polish right-wing politician Dominik Tarczynski; Belgian anti-immigration activist Filip Dewinter; and television personality Ant Middleton who is running to be Mayor of London.

Strict conditions have been imposed under the Public Order Act on where and when campaigners can protest, the Met said, with the anti-racism event ending at 4pm and the Unite the Kingdom event finishing at 6pm.

Five Premier League football matches are also set to take place on Saturday, including derbies between West Ham and Tottenham, and Brentford and Chelsea.

More than 1,600 officers were deployed in total across the city, with 500 brought in from other forces, the Metropolitan Police said.