Overview
- Two large protests in central London on Saturday brought Tommy Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom march and a pro‑Palestine Nakba Day rally into the same area under heavy policing, with no mass clashes reported.
- The Met, which oversaw Saturday’s operation, said officers made 43 arrests across both events and reported four assaults on police and six hate crime offences against officers.
- Police opened hate crime investigations after the rallies and disclosed they are seeking seven suspects from the Nakba Day march, while live facial recognition produced three arrests for people wanted for failing to appear in court.
- About 4,000 officers, supported by horses, dogs, drones, helicopters and armoured vehicles, enforced route and timing limits in an operation the Met estimated would cost £4.5 million, including the first protest use of live facial recognition.
- Officials tightened enforcement tools around protests, with prosecutors issuing new guidance on hate speech captured on social media and the government blocking 11 foreign far‑right figures from entering the UK ahead of the rally.