Who is part of the line-up for Tommy Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom march in London?
A “pedophile hunter”, disgraced former MP and TV star Ant Middleton are among the eclectic line-up of Tommy Robinson allies who will be speaking at the Unite the Kingdom march this weekend.
Plans for a major rally in London’s Whitehall have been dashed by travel bans issued by the Home Office to prevent extremist preachers and far-right figures from coming to the UK.
At least seven people, including Polish MP Dominik Tarczynski and anti-Islam influencer Valentina Gomez, were prevented from entering the UK at a march organized by British far-right activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.
Police are preparing for about 50,000 people to attend the march and about 30,000 to attend the pro-Palestinian Nakba Day rally on Saturday; Up to 100,000 protesters are expected to attend the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium in the capital, along with football fans.
Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner James Harman said Saturday “has the potential to be one of the biggest days of policing in London in recent years”.
Around 4,000 officers, including 660 from other forces in England and Wales, will be deployed, as well as helicopters, drones, dog units, police horses and armored vehicles, which will be on standby if needed.
Policing activities across the events will cost around £4.5 million, with £1.7 million spent bringing additional officers to London.
Live facial recognition will also be used in Camden, where some of those attending Robinson’s march will gather together and check people against a pre-existing watch list.
DC Harman warned that “if hate speech is used at the rally, we, as the police, will immediately intervene against the speaker.” He also added that there would be “a responsibility on both the organizer and the speaker to stay within the law regarding hate speech.”
According to promotional material, the march is billed as “the final stand of those who refuse to have their culture set aside” and will be about “capitalism, democracy and faith.”
The first UK demonstration, attended by 150,000 people in September last year, was condemned at the time as “plastic patriotism” by Sir Keir Starmer. While 22 people were detained during the march, clashes broke out between protest groups. Tech billionaire Elon Musk told marchers to “fight back or die” in comments condemned as “inappropriate” and “disgusting”.
Among those planning to speak at Saturday’s event is former British soldier Ant Middleton, best known for his role as a former chief trainer on Channel 4. SAS: He Who Dares Wins. He said he would use Mr. Musk’s Starlink service to talk to the hiker via video link from Mount Everest base camp.
Alex Cairnie, an anti-immigrant lawmaker and self-described pedophile hunter, is also expected to speak at the event. Mr Cairnie has a previous conviction for kidnapping a man suspected of child sex offences.
Sentencing, Sheriff Brian Mohan, of Paisley sheriff court, said Cairnie and his group “ran like cowboys” and said his “well-motivated action knew no bounds”.
Dubai-based Irish anti-immigration Christian influencer Andy Malone was expected to speak at Saturday’s event. But this week he told his 174,000 Instagram followers that he had to cancel flights to the UK after he was “contacted and told I would be arrested on arrival”.
Another anti-immigrant influencer with more than 200,000 Instagram followers who uses the social media account Based and Bougie will also address the crowd. In a video introduced by Mr Robinson, he claimed it would be “the biggest rally the world has ever seen”.
Based and Bougie, who claimed that LGBT+ rights were “imposed on Christians”, said that the march would show “who owns the streets of London” by “taking them back” from “Communists, Marxists and Islamists”.
Former Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen also appears on the bill, but was unable to speak because organizers ran out of time last year. Mr Bridgen was expelled from the Conservative Party after comparing Covid-19 vaccines to the Holocaust. Mr Robinson said Rhiannon Whyte’s mother, Siobhan Whyte, would also speak. Ms Whyte was killed by an asylum seeker staying at the hotel where she worked.
Rikki Doolan, a self-styled pastor and musician, will also return and has promised to lead the crowd in a rendition of a new song he wrote for the event.
Among those banned from attending the event is right-wing Polish politician Dominik Tarczynski, who was criticized earlier this year for posting “Good job ICE” in response to the fatal shooting of Renee Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minnesota.
He said on Wednesday that the Home Office had blocked his arrival in the UK by canceling his electronic travel permit and threatened to sue the prime minister.
Other right-wing figures who claimed to have been banned include Belgian politician and commentator Filip Dewinter, anti-Islam influencer Valentina Gomez, US right-wing commentator Joey Mannarino, Spanish personality Ada Lluch, Dutch anti-immigration activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek and US-based podcaster Don Keith.
