When far-right activist Tommy Robinson was released from HMP Woodhill in May this year, he already had big plans for what he would do with his freedom. Addressing a camera outside the prison, his hair overgrown from seven months inside for contempt of court, he revealed that plans for a “free speech festival” in London were already in full swing.
The Unite the Kingdom rally would take place on 13 September, with people coming from every corner of the globe, Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, promised. Speakers were already lined up from Australia, Canada, America, Denmark, Poland and Germany, he said, adding: “Book your travel, book your hotel, bring your families”.
Over the weekend, up to 150,000 people did just that in what is thought to be the largest nationalist event in decades.
The number of marchers seemed to surprise both the organisers and the police, with the huge turnout meaning protesters couldn’t be contained. As the crowd spilled out of the area in Whitehall where the march ended, police tried – and failed – to stop them from encircling anti-racism counterprotesters, prompting “unacceptable violence” from Robinson supporters and clashes that left dozens of officers injured.
While Robinson is no stranger to organising political marches, the scale of Saturday’s demonstration was new – as was the public support from American tech billionaire Elon Musk, who appeared via live stream to address the crowds.
Musk, who has addressed or posted about Robinson on his social media platform X (Twitter) 34 times in little over a year, told the Unite the Kingdom march that “violence is coming to you” and “you either fight back or you die”.
He was joined in the speaking line-up by Reform UK’s former deputy chair, Ben Habib, and other far-right activists, including French politician Eric Zemmour, Belgian politician Filip Dewinter, actor turned right-wing commentator Laurence Fox, media personality Katie Hopkins, and former SAS soldier and TV presenter Ant Middleton, among others.
Downing Street hit back at Musk’s comments on Monday, with a spokesperson saying: “The last thing the British people want is dangerous and inflammatory language which threatens violence and intimidation on our streets.”
And home secretary Shabana Mahmood continued the condemnation, telling MPs that “violent thugs will face the full force of the law”.
She added: “When a foreign billionaire calls upon our citizens to fight against our ancient democracy, I know that this is met by the vast majority with a shake of the head. That is because we are in truth a tolerant country, and yes, a diverse one too.” Mahmood added: “The St George’s cross and the union jack belong to us all … They must never be used to divide us.”
She said Musk was a “hostile billionaire” whose words were “abhorrent”.
Musk has now publicly supported Advance UK, a political movement to the right of Reform UK, fronted by Habib. His unofficial support for Robinson started when the right-wing agitator was allowed back on X in November 2023.
Since then, Robinson has benefited substantially from his exposure on the social media platform, with his followers growing from around 600,000 in June last year to 1.6 million just over a year later.
Musk started promoting Robinson personally on his own account in August last year, ahead of the anti-immigration riots in Southport that gripped the country and saw over 1,000 people charged. He then renewed his support in January, amid political pressure following the grooming gangs scandal in which he offered to “help fund legal actions against corrupt officials who aided and abetted the rape of Britain, per the official government inquiry”, and again this summer during the asylum hotel protests.
A summer of anti-migration rhetoric propagated by politicians is what has fuelled the high turnout, Sabby Dhalu from anti-racism activist group Stand Up to Racism said.
“What shifted it was the whole political narrative over the summer; it wasn’t really an organisational shift,” she said. “Politicians of different colours, from Reform UK to Conservatives and indeed the Labour government, were all feeding the same narrative of stopping the boats, asylum seekers and foreign nationals being a problem in society.
“There were at least 20 demonstrations every week for the last seven weeks, culminating in this big demonstration at the weekend in London. That sort of thing is inevitably going to build a massive far-right demonstration.”
Though Stand Up to Racism has also been organising counterprotests to challenge anti-migrant hotel activists, she added that there are not enough politicians speaking up. “You haven’t got politicians in the same number feeding an anti-racist narrative, who are speaking out, saying refugees are not to blame for the crisis and that we need a more humane response. They also don’t get the airtime or the coverage that anti-asylum seeker rhetoric gets.
“It’s the politics of it that built the Tommy Robinson demonstration. You need a Labour government to challenge this, and they are not challenging it.”
Ahead of Saturday’s march, the Unite the Kingdom website was asking supporters to help raise £180,000 to organise the rally. Funds would cover professional staging, lighting and sound systems, travel and accommodation for speakers and security and medics, the website said.
An account on X, called Unite the Kingdom $UTK and labelled as a fan account, has claimed to be the “sponsors” of Saturday’s event. The logo and website name, UTK coin, were tagged to Robinson’s videos posted ahead of the march, and he thanked them for supporting the protest.
The UTK crypto coin can be bought by Robinson supporters, and then royalties are earned when the coin is traded, according to the trading platform Bag.fm.
The website for the coin says it is a “patriotic coin fighting for Britain’s future” that is “supported by Tommy Robinson”.
The X account had claimed to have raised nearly $70,000 through the crypto trades on Saturday, with a target of $500,000 for the next Unite the Kingdom event.
There is also UTK merchandise for sale, including a bucket hat for £19.99.
With more marches apparently planned, chief constable Mark Hobrough, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for public order, said that there were well-established “national mobilisation plans in place” to provide the right resources across the UK.
“Policing is not anti-protest, we are anti-crime and we will continue to work with local communities to ensure that they are safe and any serious disruption is dealt with robustly,” he added.
