Overview
- Following Saturday’s far-right Unite the Kingdom rally and a pro‑Palestine Nakba Day counter‑march in central London, the Metropolitan Police said both events passed largely without major disorder and resulted in 43 arrests.
- Police reported 20 arrests linked to Unite the Kingdom and 12 to the Nakba Day rally, with 11 others unassigned, while four officers were assaulted and six officers reported hate‑crime offences.
- Detectives launched hate‑crime investigations and said they are seeking seven suspects from the Nakba Day march after making 11 hate‑crime arrests overall, nine tied to the Unite the Kingdom event and two to the pro‑Palestine protest.
- The £4.5 million operation deployed about 4,000 officers, drones, horses and dogs, enforced a ‘sterile zone’ to keep groups apart, and used live facial recognition at a protest for the first time, which led to three arrests on outstanding court warrants.
- Authorities tightened legal tools, with CPS guidance telling prosecutors to factor the online spread of chants and placards when assessing stirring‑up offences, and with organisers now responsible under protest conditions for what invited speakers say.