Thug threatens Keir Starmer at Tommy Robinson far-right march

As more than 100,000 people joined a central London march today organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson, aka Stephen Lennon, the Chief Executive of the UK’s largest anti-racism and anti-extremism movement, HOPE not hate, Nick Lowles, gave The Mirror his verdict.

He says: "London witnessed its largest-ever far-right demonstration today, as Stephen Lennon’s (AKA Tommy Robinson) ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally drew an estimated 110,000 attendees, according to the police. The event attracted a slew of high-profile far-right influencers and politicians from both the UK and abroad, some of whom gave extraordinarily extreme speeches.

"Since bursting onto the far-right scene with the launch of the now-disbanded English Defence League (EDL) in 2009, Lennon has become the best-known far-right extremist in the UK. We at HOPE not hate have been at the forefront of exposing Lennon for who he truly is, from his libellous claims against a Syrian refugee to his relentless efforts to evade justice. After being released from prison this summer, Lennon has been hard at work galvanising support around the country – at least when he’s not taking a flight to Spain on his Irish passport.

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"Over the last few years, Lennon has become noticeably more extreme and conspiratorial. He has associated with far-right figures like Elon Musk, Andrew Tate and Steve Bannon.

"While Lennon complained about elements of the media calling the demonstration far-right, many of the speeches were extraordinarily extreme, as were elements of the crowd.

"One man being interviewed directly threatened Keir Starmer, saying: 'Keir Starmer needs to be assassinated. Someone needs to shoot Keir Starmer.'

"Despite the rally being billed as Uniting the Kingdom, one rally speaker, Brian Tamaki, told the crowd: 'Ban any type of public expression in our Christian nation from other religions. Ban Halal, ban Burquas. Ban mosques, ban temples, ban shrines - we don’t want those in our countries.'

"Further up the street, towards Trafalgar Square, rally supporters violently attacked anti-racists, and the police were forced to deploy dogs and horses to force them back.

"Stephen Lennon is a grifter who wants to divide our country. We have now reached a point where protests against immigration are bubbling over into an upsurge of racist violence and vandalism across the country. We cannot allow this to happen. Britain – our Britain – is better than this.

"More than ever, it is now imperative that we stand strong and show that Britain is a tolerant, peaceful and united country. We cannot let people like Lennon win."