News

Tommy Robinson fans explain why they’re at the St George’s Day march

Tommy Robinson fans have explained why they felt the need to march on St George’s Day in London in a viral video produced by PoliticsJOE.

The former EDL leader addressed campaigners in Whitehall after managing to swerve another run-in with the police.

The controversial activist, 41, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley Lennon, was arrested at a march against antisemitism near the Royal Courts of Justice in November after organisers said he would not be welcome at the event.

But on Monday, the senior Metropolitan Police officer who signed the dispersal order admitted it may not have been lawful after he used the wrong date on the paperwork.

It gave Robinson the freedom to attend a St George’s Day rally on Tuesday (23/4) in London, which was marred by arrests and disturbances of the peace.

Six people were arrested at the march after a number of incidents broke out.

Four arrests were made by the Met Police outside a pub in Whitehall – one on suspicion of assault and three on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker.

An image was shared on X by the force which shows dozens of officers and multiple police vans near a crowd on a pavement.

Earlier, a man was arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty after “a police horse was targeted on Whitehall”, the force added.

Before the event began on Tuesday afternoon, mounted officers on horses had to intervene after disorder broke out.

A group broke through a police cordon that was formed to stop people who had moved past an area in Richmond Terrace, which was allocated for the event, the Metropolitan Police said.

The Metropolitan Police later shared a video on X that appears to show officers forming a cordon but a group, some waving flags and others wearing St George’s flags, pushing past it before two mounted officers on horses intervene.

The force posted the video just after 2pm on Tuesday along with the message: “The event is not due to start for an hour and regrettably officers are already dealing with disorder.

“There is an area allocated for this event in Richmond Terrace. This group went past it and continued up Whitehall.

“When officers formed a cordon and asked the group to turn round, they reacted by violently forcing their way through. Mounted officers intervened with horses to restore the cordon.”

Related: London Mayoral candidate Count Binface says he’s never heard of Susan Hall

Published by