Britishness and free speech – why we travelled 200 miles to Robinson’s London rally

The valley is covered with a heavy driving and the streets are quiet on the road to Ystelafera.

Far from the noise and cacophone of the streets of the center of London last Saturday Police estimate between 110,000 and 150,000 people to protest.

The far-right activist Tommy Robinson attracted much more people than he expected the authorities to unite the kingdom rally last weekend-despite a few criminal conviction and reputation of inflammatory language.

But why did thousands of people traveled miles to Westminster’s heart to walk with a man revised by the main politics – now he was carrying a poster calling the Remi?

The British future and more widespread researches show that Tommy Robinson’s basic support has not increased for more than a decade – but became more visible and withdrew to others who were very dissatisfied.

More than 700 people who participated in the march, some of the hope that did not hate against the protest, contacted your voice with their views on that day and why they went.

Suzanne Philpott from Southern Wales was one of the contacts.

So we went to meet her husband Sam, who traveled about 200 miles from the pub to go for a walk.

Suzanne said he had never participated in a protest before, but was forced to go because of freedom of speech.

He told us that the atmosphere they found was a family festival.

Her husband, Sam added: “I didn’t go because Tommy Robinson was leading. It was. I went because I went to talk with friends and I could see that this would be a big event and people stood up to be British.”

I asked him if he was comfortable to go for a walk -on -led walking of Tommy Robinson. Sam answered What is worrying is that someone labeled as a far -right bandit should be able to gather many people in the capital – because people are so sad.

I pushed him to what Tommy Robinson represented – a racist with dangerous landscapes for many.

Sam’s answer is something that he thinks.

“I think this is not everything he represents, this is not everything he represents … The working -class man speaks in a way that the government cannot do. The government has so far lived in the ivory towers, this man has lived and grew with men on the ground.”

For the last seven years, Suzanne has made many changes, such as recognizing this village pub The Flying Pig and recognizing a gay night and encouraging more clear discussions on sensitive issues in the bar.

He sits a few regularly and listens to our discussion. Suzanne tells me that two small coaches came down from this area to a protest march – why did he go?

“I thought this was really important. I didn’t know that the kingdom rally was a unite. I thought it was a freedom of speech. I think not only for us, but also for future generations.”

But why did he feel the freedom of speaking under threat and how he felt?

“I think it comes from all different parties. I think it’s not just the left or the most accurate.

During our conversation, Sam speaks several times about being proud of his British – I asked him what it meant.

“As for a working class history, I know that most men, my age, with a young family, have enough money to go to the job they want to do, to feed their families on their heads and put a roof.

“Currently working man is fighting because prices are going through the roof, the rent is passing through the roof. And then many people come and place in hotels. Before starting to help others, we should help our people in financing and poverty. I don’t say that we should not help others, but the philanthropy starts at home for the first time.”

Hundreds of people contacted BBC, And Our team spoke to many people who went from all over England to March and repeated some of Philpotts’ saying.

It is not about a nationalism from Dorset; Another from the Kent was full of rally and families, mothers and fathers.

A man said it wasn’t a far -right walk, it was a chance for normal British people who were not satisfied with the country.

A woman from Portsmouth told us that Tommy Robinson told us the right things and no one was listening to it.

A British Muslim man who sent us e -mail, said that many immigrants have already suffered civil wars in their countries and “this hatred for my children is very worrying”.

Police said that eight people were accused of disorder during the protests and eight people were accused and 24 were arrested for a number of crimes.

Do rallies propose a deepening division in our society?

A side of a side of the life of life, a sense of identity and the arrival of newcomers and how to deal with them.

On the other hand, there is a deep concern that tensions are stocked in a separatist language with real life consequences.

Sam Rowe, a mixed racing heritage, was a smaller counter protest and contacted us about what it was for him.

He said, “I was scared, I didn’t feel safe from time to time.”

He went to the attack protest because it was important to show that everyone did not accept the views of the unification of the Kingdom March leaders.

“I heard some racist language at the rally used at the rally, and even though the British and I were born here, he is a little more afraid of going out and being on the streets.

“But I think it’s easy to say that the rally is full of racist people. The truth is that the majority was there because they thought the majority of the people there were the right reasons, but the people who lead the rally were there for racist reasons and were very clear in their speeches.”

These rallies attracted people who were preparing to ignore Tommy Robinson’s extremism to protest their disappointments – others are worried that others are challenging their places in our society.

From the sounds we hear, the idea of ​​British and this means to become a war area.

Additional Reporting: Sadaf Maruf