Tens of thousands are marching through central London to show their rejection of the rise of the far right Here’s a map of the route for today’s Together Alliance march. Participants will march from Park Lane at 1pm, finishing on Whitehall, with police expecting all rallies to conclude by 5pm.
A reminder for those attending, police have imposed public order conditions banning the today’s marches from continuing after 5pm. More pictures are coming in now that really show the scale of the march: There are a number of notable politicians and activists across the progressive left engaging in today’s march.
Green party leader Zack Polanski is expected to speak, while attendees are expecting to hear from the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, and the Labour MP Dawn Butler, as well as trade union leaders. There are crowds as far as the eye can see along Park Lane, with people of all ages and demographics taking part in the march.
A cacophony of chanting, whistling and drum banging can be heard among the thousands gathered here. A group from Leicester Stand Up to Racism is shouting: “No borders, no nations, stop deportations!” Others carry signs reading, “You cannot divide us”, “refugees are welcome here” and “this world belongs to everyone”.
Robyn Vinter is north of England correspondent at the Guardian Some protesters have spoken to PA earmarking opposition to Reform UK, support for Palestine and anti-racism as drivers for their attendance. Paige Horsford, 34, a media and English teacher from New Romney, Kent, said she joined the Together march because she has witnessed racist incidents at her school.
She said: “This is my 10th year teaching, and it’s certainly the worst it’s ever been. “Especially after the unite the kingdom rally in September, we had issues in our school surrounding that rally.
“Our kids’ parents had been, and then (pupils) were thinking that they could have free licence to be abusive in classrooms.” Horsford said pupils had been imitating accents and making “inappropriate” comments, with young people blaming migrants for the country’s ills.
Crawford Logan, 76, from Stirling, Scotland, said he wanted to support both the protest against the far right, and the pro-Palestine march taking place today. He said: “There is a kind of dual purpose to this: there’s this march about the far right, but there’s also the Stop the War coalition as well, so you’ve got two major events on, and they are in parallel I think with the No Kings protests that are going on in the States today.
Asked whether he is worried about the rise of Reform UK as a political force, Logan said: “Absolutely. The people that think that Reform is the answer are not cottoning on to the fact that it’s actually just old Tories in disguise, and it’s still the same wealthy people who are stripping the country bare, and people who are being stripped bare still think that Reform is the answer.”