Far-Right “Unite the Kingdom” Rally Draws Thousands onto London Streets in Wake of Global Anti-Immigration Sentiment

Participants in ‘Unite the Kingdom’ Rally climb onto the South Bank Lion. Photographed by Joanna Chen. Photo Courtesy of AP

On September 13, 2025, followers of Tommy Robinson, a far-right activist who champions a platform based on anti-immigration and anti-Islam beliefs, poured onto Whitehall Street in London. Answering Robinson’s call to gather for the “Unite the Kingdom” rally, approximately 110,000-150,000 protesters arrived to demonstrate their support for his increasingly popular ideology. Thousands waved Union Flags, St. George’s Cross Flag of England, and other signs with a variety of nationalistic and controversial messages. 

Robinson, along with other guests, delivered speeches for the crowd of zealous onlookers. The speakers focused on key elements found in other far-right movements across the globe: embracing national pride, distrusting the government, and fighting the threat mass immigration poses. Most notably, tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has been an ally to Robinson for the past few years, spoke to the crowd over a livestream in interview-like format. 

As Musk responded to Robinson’s questions, he warned the audience of an apocalyptic-like future if they did not take action to supposedly protect their “heritage.” Musk stated, “You’re in a fundamental situation here where, whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die. You either fight back or you die.” 

Although the rally began peacefully, violence broke out against law enforcement after police attempted to keep the overwhelmingly large crowd of  the “Unite the Kingdom” supporters separate from the 5000 “Stand Up for Racism” counter-protesters, who both stood barricaded from each other. Prior to the rally, Robinson asked his supporters to not partake in any violence through an X post, stating, “No masks, open alcohol or violence”. Nevertheless, supporters injured 26 officers, four dangerously so, with assaults of “kicks and punches” as well as “bottles, flares, and other projectiles.” These assaults resulted in 25 arrests among the rally-goers. 

Violence seems to be a prevalent aspect of some anti-Islam and anti-immigration demonstrations. Tommy Robinson, also known by his real-name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has a long past of violent criminal convictions and involvement in far-right organizations, only recently reframing himself as a more “journalistic-figure.” In 2004, he joined the BNP, the British National Party, known for their fascist ideologies, and left shortly after, in 2005. According to Robinson's self-published autobiography Enemy of the State, he left the party after “two black friends of his were made to wait at the door when they accompanied him to a meeting.” In 2009, he cofounded EDL, the English Defense League, a nationalist street protest group that was responsible for a variety of violent protests, mostly targeting Britain’s Muslim population, from the year of its founding until it fizzled out after Robinson left in 2013. 

A massive tenant of Robinson’s platform is his ardent disapproval of mass immigration to the U.K., particularly, for those coming from predominantly Islamic countries. In 2021, Robinson was found guilty of libel after being sued by Jamal Hijazi, a Syrian schoolboy. Robinson accused  the young man of “attacking young British girls” in Facebook videos posted in response to viral clips of Hijazi being beaten up on a playground in 2018, which resulted in the young man and his family having to move due to intense harassment. Although the court ordered the defendant to pay Hijazi about $100,000 in libel damages, Robinson declared bankruptcy and he even went on to repeat his claims against Hijazi in interviews and on social media. In October 2024, Robinson was sentenced to 18-months in jail for defying court orders and remained there until May 2025, when he was released early after only serving seven months of his sentence. 

A volatile attitude towards immigrants, especially Muslim asylum-seekers, is not unprecedented for a 21st century U.K., however, the scale in which this sentiment is growing is unseen. Protests, many of which criticized the influx of immigrants across the English Channel, have been manifesting all across the nation in recent years. These conservative voices are fueled by what they see posted on social media by their fellow ideologues, including accusations that Muslims are committing violent crimes. 

This was the case when news broke about the tragic stabbing of three young girls at a Taylor-Swift themed event in Liverpool, where the 17-year-old suspect was wrongly identified as a Muslim asylum-seeker. This was later proven to be false. These eruptive reactions to immigration are sparking conversations on how well the government is handling the increasing number of migrants, as well as the ever-changing opinions of the British population. 

According to the United Kingdom’s Immigration System Statistics, there were 49,341 irregular arrivals (meaning entering outside of a country’s legal framework, such as illegal entry or asylum-seeking) into the U.K. from the year ending June 2025, which is 27% more than in the previous year, and 88% of these arrivals were on small-boat. A vast majority of those coming by small-boat are asylum-seekers and according to the U.K. Law, border control can not refuse asylum-seekers if they can prove their lives were in grave danger in their home country. The five most common nationalities for immigrants coming by small-boat arrival were Afghan, Eritrean, Iranian, Syrian, and Sudanese—all of which have considerable Muslim populations. 

As Prime Minister Keir Starmer looks to find a progressive solution to the mass influx of  immigration, with the help of other European leaders, his opposition Nigel Farage, leader of the far-right U.K. Reform Party and ally to President Donald Trump, disagrees, saying he “would  deport 600,000 people”  if he were Prime Minister. The U.K. Reform Party has only increased in popularity since the last election, further swinging the global pendulum to conservatism, as seen in the election of Donald Trump in the United States and Giorgia Meloni in Italy. 

Additionally, the recent assassination of far-right American activist Charlie Kirk struck a chord amongst members of the U.K.’s radical conservative movement. On September 10, Robinson tweeted, “In honour of @charliekirk11 & in honour of freedom on the 13th we march”. On Kirk’s death, Elon Musk told the crowd, “The left is the party of murder and celebrating murder, let that sink in for a minute, that’s who we are dealing with here.” Both men use Kirk’s death as almost a call to arms against what they have deemed the “enemy,” whether that be immigrants, the left, or scientists. 

As the 2020s progress, pockets of the globe are leaning conservative, seen in both political and social trends. The United States and Italy are only two examples of  far-right movements successfully moving into the reins of power, however, there are a plethora of other nations, like Argentina and Hungary, that have similar administrations in place. Moreover, even if the dominant political party in one’s country is not radically conservative, there has been a massive rise in popularity amongst far-right voters in left-leaning nations. This phenomenon occurred in France, with the rise in popularity for their far-right party, the National Rally (NP), or in Germany, with the Alternative for Germany Party (AfD). 

The ideological dominance of conservatism appears to be knocking at the world’s door.