Together Alliance march: Fury as Islamic Republic fans lead London protest.T

Supporters and opponents of the Iranian regime have gathered at the Islamic Centre of England, with officers deployed to keep them apart.

It comes as the march begins to wind down and crowds disperse following the 5pm cut off put in place by the police.

Crawford Logan, 76, from Stirling, Scotland, said he wanted to support both the protest against the far right, and the pro-Palestine march also taking place on Saturday.

He said: “There is a kind of dual purpose to this: there’s this march about the far right, but there’s also the Stop the War coalition as well, so you’ve got two major events on, and they are in parallel I think with the No Kings protests that are going on in the States today.

“And of course, it’s just very dangerous times.”

Asked whether he is worried about the rise of Reform UK as a political force, Mr Logan said: “Absolutely. The people that think that Reform is the answer are not cottoning on to the fact that it’s actually just old Tories in disguise, and it’s still the same wealthy people who are stripping the country bare, and people who are being stripped bare still think that Reform is the answer.”

Green Party leader Zack Polanski has addressed the crowd alongside the newly-elected Green Party MP Hannah Spencer who won the Gorten and Denton by-election in February.

Singer Billy Bragg performed some protest songs onstage at Whitehall as he turned his aim on US President Donald Trump.

He told the crowd that while concerns some have about migration might be justified, “their solutions are not justifiable in any way or sort”.

He added: “Re migration, the forced deportation of our fellow citizens, we’ve seen what that looks like in the United States of America.

“And if it does come to that in this country then we will have to be as courageous as the people of Minneapolis who stood in the streets to deny.”

The event has been largely peaceful, except for some instances of low-level violence and anti-semitic chanting.

Paige Horsford, 34, a media and English teacher from New Romney, Kent, said she joined the Together march because she has witnessed racist incidents at her school.

She said: “This is my 10th year teaching, and it’s certainly the worst it’s ever been.

“Especially after the Unite the Kingdom rally in September, we had issues in our school surrounding that rally.

“Our kids’ parents had been, and then (pupils) were thinking that they could have free licence to be abusive in classrooms.”

Ms Horsford said pupils had been imitating accents and making “inappropriate” comments.

She said: “The other day, when a teacher who was of foreign descent was giving out warnings, one of the kids went, ‘Oh, is he gonna blow up if we keep on?’

“(There has been) a lot of low-level stuff and when I’m teaching media and we talk about newspapers, kids are saying, ‘it’s all because of the immigrants’, and, no, it isn’t.”

UB40 have appeared on stage to address attendees, with several other musicans expected to play some part in the rally throughout the day.

The Metropolitan Police have been forced to intervene after a number of counter protesters appeared on the march route.

The Metropolitan Police say that two protesters have been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and causing a public nuisance after attempting to climb the pillars facing Trafalgar Square.

OPINION: Anybody who has been in central London during pro-Palestine marches that have become a common occurance since the October 7 attacks will have heard anti-semitic hate speech.

I have and the police response when I have reported it has been poor to say the least.

Footage from today’s protest shows numerous incidents of anti-semitic chanting and it will be interesting to see in the coming days what action if any the police have taken.

Speaking in advance of the march, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Jon Savell, who is in charge of the policing operation this weekend, said:

“I am mindful that it is less than a week since the appalling arson attack in Golders Green which will only have compounded already heightened fears in the Jewish community. We take these fears seriously and have carefully considered them in our planning, balancing them as we are required to do against the rights of others to lawful protest.

“Officers have been briefed to be alert to any behaviour that crosses the line from protest into criminality, including hate crime targeting any group. They are there for everyone’s safety and will intervene decisively where incidents and offences take place.”

There are two protests taking place in London today, both of which will converge on Whitehall where a rally will take place.

The ‘Together Alliance’ march will form up in Park Lane from midday before setting off and heading along Piccadilly, down Regent Street St James’s, along Pall Mall and Cockspur Street and into Whitehall.

A separate march organised by the Palestine Coalition will form up at the southern end of Exhibition Road, also from midday, before turning left into Cromwell Gardens, along Brompton Road, along Knightsbridge to Hyde Park Corner where the march will turn onto Piccadilly, joining the route of the Together Alliance march set out above.

Police say that the rally in Whitehall must conclude by 17:00hrs.

An estimated half a million people have gathered in London for the Together Alliance march against the far right, organisers said.

Rally co-organiser Kevin Courtney, chairman of the coalition, told crowds gathered on Whitehall: “Our estimate is now that there are half a million people on this demonstration – the biggest demonstration ever against the far right.

“And it gives us all confidence to carry on. Thank you very much.”

The march has drawn criticism online for sentiments expressed by those in attendance.

The waving of Iranian flags, just months after a hardline crackdown by the regime in Tehran which left thousands of protesters murdered has caused consternation amongst some.

Video footage showing attendees chanting “death death to the IDF”, a common occurance at pro-Palestine marches, has also drawn the ire of some.

Well known figures from the left of British politics have been seen at the march, which was led by Green Party leader Zack Polanski, Your Party co-leader Zarah Sultana and veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott, who now sits as an independent.

Abbott told a cheering crowd: “The turnout today is the largest anti-racist march that I have seen in my lifetime, and you should all be proud of yourselves for coming out in such numbers today.”

The march is described as “THE MARCH TO STOP THE FAR RIGHT,” on the organisers website.

Thousands of people have turned out in support of the march which has required a significant policing presence in Westminster.

As the march formed up, there were chants of: “Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here”, and “choose love”.

Many protestors carried placards, bearing slogans such as: “Migrants make our NHS”, “No to racism, no to Trump”, and “Refugees welcome, stop the far right”.

Hello and welcome to our coverage of a march in central London, attended by thousands of people.