Remembrance clashes mark ‘dangerous new phase’ says anti-racism leader | UK News

The ugly scenes involving hundreds of far-right counter-protesters in London today marks a ‘dangerous new phase’, the leader of a national anti-racism group has warned.  

Nick Lowles, CEO of Hope not Hate, filmed troublemakers clashing with police as the Cenotaph Remembrance ceremony and a pro-Palestine march took place in close proximity. 

Lowles pinpointed far-right leader Tommy Robinson, who has regained his X platform, as one of the key figures who had been leading the ‘football hooligans’ through the streets. 

Videos shared by Lowles on the social network show pushing and shoving between groups of men — some clad in balaclavas — and lines of police with extendable batons and riot gear.  

The advocacy group has linked increased far-right online chatter in recent days, including from English Defence League founder Robinson, with the divisive comments by Suella Braverman about ‘hate marchers’ in relation to rallies for Palestine during the Israel-Hamas conflict. 

MORE : Thousands march for Palestine in London as police arrest 82 counter protesters – latest

‘There were hundreds and hundreds of far-right activists and hooligans who were intent on trouble,’ Lowles said.

‘They used the pretext of defending the Cenotaph as an excuse to come out, with the ultimate objective being to confront Palestine supporters.

‘If you step back 10 days ago, the football hooligan world was not interested in the Israel-Hamas conflict.  

‘Then, over the last 10 days, the tone of the political language, the issue of the Cenotaph being under threat and the use of the words “hate marchers” all whipped up anger.’ 

Lowles used his X profile to condemn a ‘wrong and highly offensive’ placard he had seen which suggested that Israel is a Nazi state.

He also told Metro.co.uk that a rise in anti-Semitism was another after-effect that the highly charged language used by politicians is having on community tensions.  But Lowles identified far-right groups as being the main protagonists behind the worst disorder. 

‘The football hooligans met in the morning by the Embankment, they then walked up to the Strand and down Whitehall without any police around them at all, they just took over the streets,’ he said.  

‘When they got to Whitehall the police wouldn’t let them past and tried to push them behind a one-metre high barrier. But it was just one line of police and they just charged at the officers and broke through and ran round to the Cenotaph and got to the streets opposite.  

‘Afterwards they were just walking around in big groups, looking for a confrontation or going into pubs.  

‘Led by Tommy Robinson, a group went up to Chinatown and there was fighting there and there were people trying to confront the marchers around the pubs in Victoria. He then jumped in a taxi and left. 

‘Some of the worst trouble was on Westminster Bridge around Westminster Tube with a few hundred football hooligans fighting riot police.

‘The police were obviously dealing with a difficult situation, with the march having 300,000 to 500,000 people but really, the main trouble today, as I saw it, came from the far-right who were hell-bent on disorder. They had been whipped up by the lurid political rhetoric over the past 10 days.’

Lowles estimated that around 1,500 to 2,000 far-right counter-demonstrators had turned up on the day and formed separate groups, with around 500 intent on causing trouble. 

The Metropolitan Police said that officers had faced ‘unacceptable violence’ as they tried to prevent those not involved in the Remembrance ceremony from entering Whitehall, where the Cenotaph war memorial is the focus of the November 11 anniversary. This included ‘people throwing missiles and a metal barrier’, the force said on X.  

Officers arrested 82 people in Tachbrook Street, Pimlico, who the Met said were ‘part of a large group of counter-protesters we have been monitoring who have tried to reach the main protest march’. 

Two individuals said by social media users to be wearing Hamas-style headbands are being sought by the force, which said it will take ‘proactive action when they are identified’.

Ahead of Armistice Day, the home secretary wrote that ‘the hate marchers need to understand that decent British people have had enough of these displays of thuggish intimidation and extremism’.

Lowles responded: ‘The real danger is that the people who were out today and their supporters watching at home will get active and politicised and tensions will continue to get whipped up in our communities.  

‘We are entering a dangerous new phase and one of the depressing things has been the rhetoric of the home secretary and her comments about the “hate marchers”. At the same time, we’ve also seen a rise in anti-Semitism, which is another consequence of politicians using inflammatory language.   

‘At a time of national crisis, the job of the home secretary is to calm things down and reassure communities. We haven’t had that and I really think the government needs to get a grip.’ 

Robinson said in a post on X that he had not been leading a march but was in Chinatown ‘having paid my respects’ at the Cenotaph.

The Met also said that it had made another 10 arrests for offences including possession of offensive weapons, affray and possession of drugs.  

More than 300,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators made their way through central London, a police spokesperson told the AFP news agency. Organisers estimated the turnout at 800,000.  

MORE : ‘We need to unite’ in response to racism, says activist who fought National Front

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