Thousands of counter-protesters united in London against a large Tommy Robinson rally
Thousands of people joined a counter-protest in London on Saturday to unite against a Tommy Robinson march, as trade union leaders and anti-racism campaigners made rallying calls opposing the far right.
RMT’s Eddie Dempsey joined a large line-up of speakers and used the occasion to highlight the power of solidarity and how to beat back the far right.
15,000 people took part in the march organised by far-right activist and English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson, while a group of 5,000 protesters rallied in opposition to Robinson’s divisive and racist politics.
Organised by the campaign group Stand Up to Racism, speakers at the rally included Jeremy Corbyn, National Education Union leader Daniel Kebede and RMT Assistant General Secretary Eddie Dempsey, among numerous other important figures in the fight against racism.
In a powerful speech at the event, Dempsey hit out at the divisive narrative from politicians as he said the large march by Robinson supporters was “called on” by the likes of Suella Braverman and Rishi Sunak to “undermine the anti-war movement”. The trade union figure said they had “opened the door and made the way for these people to come out and sow further hate and division in our communities.”
He went on: “What people care about in this country are class issues, housing, wages, our communities. And that’s what we must fight for, and that’s how we undermine these people.
“So finally I’ll say this. We defeated the EDL, we defeated the Football Lads Alliance. Tommy’s back out again, and we’ll defeat him again. Solidarity is always more powerful than division. We’ve got a weapon of solidarity and today we’re going to use it.”
Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward
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