Thousands of anti-racism protesters hold a rally in the city of London, slamming a rise in Islamophobia in the UK.
London, October 28 (RHC)-- Supporters of far-right activist Tommy Robinson were holding a rally in the British capital while thousands from across the UK took to the streets of central London in a counter-demonstration against right-wing extremism.
One organizer of the counter-protest said: "We've come down from Glasgow today to stand in solidarity with other trade unionists and anti racists and anti fascists against the mobilization of the far right."
Not far from the counter-demonstrators, those who find immigrants the reason behind the socio-economic woes of white working-class Britons are marching.
Their detained leader, who goes by the alias Tommy Robinson, was behind the violent race riots this summer. Ahead of the March, he was arrested by the police upon his return from abroad under counter-terrorism legislation.
Sabby Dhalu, an organizer with Stand Up To Racism, said: "The Islamophobic riots that swept across England and the north of Ireland at the end of July and the beginning of August shocked the world. He is an Islamophobe and he is stirring up hatred, particularly towards Muslims, but also refugees. He's trying to build a far-right Street movement behind him, and that movement supports Nigel Farage and Reform UK. So it's a very dangerous movement that could drag (British) politics to the right.
Another participant in the demonstration, Iqbal Ahmed, Independent MP, told reporters:
"Right wing populism at the top; to those in politics, that's where the problem begins. The language of Parliamentarians over the last 10 years has become more and more divisive, more and more racist, more and more aggressive towards minority communities, and communities of faith, and this has been a distraction or a deflection from their failures."
Britain is facing a national crisis in the face of the worst rioting in 13 years. The violence was sparked by the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport last week and stoked by misinformation on social media.
Those failures include falling living standards and a housing and cost of living crisis, one of the issues that the far-right leaders claim to be addressing.
