Far-right groups, from football hooligans to so-called “migrant hunters”, are seeking to mobilise supporters to turn up in central London on Armistice Day to oppose the pro-Palestine march. Evidence from social media and closed chat forums suggests there has been a push from a range of extremist organisations to get their supporters out. The most high-profile message has been from the founder of the English Defence League (EDL), Tommy Robinson. Robinson – whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – published a video on his account on X, formerly known as Twitter, calling for people to gather at the Cenotaph “to show that British people aren’t happy”, although he insisted that the purpose was to show support for the armed forces. On the same social media platform, Turning Point UK, an offshoot of a US organisation that seeks to promote rightwing political views in educational settings, made a similar call. It wrote: “Make sure you’re there on Saturday. It’s down to the British people to stand up for those who made the ultimate sacrifice for us. If we don’t make a stand this weekend, we may as well surrender to the mob. Don’t let them win. Protect our memorials & statues. Honour the fallen.” According to Hope Not Hate, a campaign group that works to expose and oppose far-right extremism, other extremist voices have also called for a presence on the streets of central London on Saturday. These include football hooligans participating on closed chat forums and individuals linked to Active Patriot, a group that has mobilised its members to harass refugees housed in hotels.
The pro-Palestine march is scheduled to start at 12.45pm from Marble Arch and end at the US embassy in south-west London, about two miles from the Cenotaph, where formal remembrance events will be held the next day. There remains little evidence that the calls from far-right figures will lead to significant number of their supporters coming out to cause trouble. On Tuesday, the Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, defied calls for the march to be banned, citing a lack of evidence of a risk of serious public disruption. Nick Lowles, the chief executive of Hope Not Hate, said: “Parts of the far right are trying to mobilise against the pro-Palestine demonstration taking place this weekend around central London. However, these are by no means united efforts across the groups intending to head to London on Saturday. “What remains to be seen is whether these groups have the power to mobilise in the way that they could several years ago. Tommy Robinson, his supporters, football hooligans and other far-right groups have failed in recent years to drum up sizeable numbers, but their appetite for confrontation could still pose a risk even if there is a small presence.” Those attending the pro-Palestine marches in recent weeks have been calling for a ceasefire in the war that broke out last month after Hamas killed 1,400 people, mainly civilians, in Israel and took more than 200 hostages. Thousands of civilians in Gaza have been killed in the Israeli military operation since, according to Gaza’s health authority, which is run by Hamas.