Police have imposed specific conditions on planned demonstrations in central London this Saturday as large crowds are expected to gather for a mass protest against the far-right.
Scotland Yard confirmed a significant police presence will be deployed across Westminster, anticipating the convergence of two major marches.
One procession, organised by the Together Alliance, will feature speeches and musical performances. It has the backing of figures such as comedian Sir Lenny Henry and singer Paloma Faith, though neither is expected to attend.
This march will commence from Park Lane at 1pm, concluding on Whitehall. Concurrently, a separate music event is scheduled for Trafalgar Square, featuring artists including former Little Mix member Leigh-Anne Pinnock.
A separate march organised by the Palestine Coalition will form up at the southern end of Exhibition Road from midday, marching towards Hyde Park Corner where the demonstrators will turn onto Piccadilly, joining the route of the Together Alliance before the groups form up for a rally on Whitehall.
Officers have imposed public order conditions banning the joint rally from continuing after 5pm.
A video message from London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan will be played to those gathered at the Whitehall stage and the leader of the Green party Zack Polanski is expected to make a speech.
Mr Polanski is expected to say: “Our plan is simple … never back down in the face of hate – when they attack migrants, when they spew hate about our trans siblings, when they blame Muslims for our country’s ills.”
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Jon Savell, who is in charge of the policing operation this weekend, said: “This is going to be a busy weekend for our officers but we have detailed plans in place to ensure all groups protesting this weekend can do so lawfully and without causing serious disruption to other Londoners, businesses or visitors.”
Mr Savell said he was aware there had been some concerns raised about the proximity of the Palestine Coalition form-up point to a synagogue just under a mile away.
“We know that in the past, concerns about being caught up among protesters have led some Jewish Londoners to avoid going to synagogues on days when protests have been taking place in central London,” he said.
“This is hugely regrettable and we have taken steps this weekend that we hope will provide reassurance to anyone with similar concerns.
“The conditions in place require participants to only form up south of the junction with Prince Consort Gardens which is half a mile away from the synagogue. In addition, we will have officers deployed in the vicinity who will ensure anyone arriving is directed to the appropriate location.”
He added: “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.”
As well as the mass demonstration, a number of protests against the Iranian regime – both static assemblies and marches – are due to take place in the Westminster area on both Saturday and Sunday, the Metropolitan Police said.
In September, a Unite The Kingdom rally in central London was attended by more than 100,000 people while about 5,000 were involved in an anti-racism counter-demonstration.
The main rally was organised by right-wing activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, and resulted in several incidents of violent disorder, which left more than 20 police officers injured.
It was condemned at the time by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who said it had left people feeling “more scared than they were before”.
