“If you don’t get involved, if you don’t become activists, we might lose our country forever.”
These words, spoken by one Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (AKA “Tommy Robinson”) at last Saturday’s Unite the Kingdom rally, seemed to have more than a hint of desperation to them.
No doubt the significantly reduced crowd size from his march last September was playing on Tommy’s mind. According to the Met Police, the turnout was 60,000 – down from September’s 150,000.
On the other side of the police lines, pro-Palestine supporters turned out in huge numbers to commemorate the anniversary of the Nakba and oppose Robinson – numbering 250,000 according to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. This huge mobilisation shows a glimpse of the real balance of forces in British society, and should be considered an encouraging victory for the left.
250 000 on the streets of London for Palestine and against the far right! Nakba 78 pic.twitter.com/w4YJsMRPfO
— Palestine Solidarity Campaign (@PSCupdates) May 16, 2026
Robinson’s vicious provocation – by holding his march on the annual Nakba Day rally – has clearly backfired.
Much has changed since last September, when Robinson’s rabble dwarfed the anti-racist counter-demonstration. In the intervening months, the British public has seen Trump’s disastrous war on Iran, the ruling class’s disarray in the face of the Epstein scandal, and the ongoing crisis of the Starmer regime. Alongside this, the left has grown in confidence, following the Greens successfully deposing Labour in recent elections, and the half-a-million strong Together Alliance march.
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Communists out in force
Reflecting this growing enthusiasm, and on the back of our recent Third Congress, members and supporters of the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) came out with a vibrant 300-strong bloc.
Khaled Malachi, London RCP regional organiser, rallied the bloc with a charged speech, highlighting the criminal role that British imperialism played in the creation of Israel: “What the Israelis learnt of collective punishment, was taught to them by the British state.”
The police – right on cue – surged forward in a column, guiding us down the designated route. The Met Police deployed over 4,000 officers on the day – blocking roads and making 43 arrests across both marches.
It should be noted that only 11 arrests were from the quarter of a million who attended the Nakba Day march. Many of the arrests were for the most spurious ‘offences’, like wearing face coverings. Whereas 20 were arrested at the much-smaller UTK rally, for offences including racist hate speech, drunk and disorderly behaviour, and assaulting police officers.
And yet, it seems to be the Palestine demos that are demonised as “hate marches” by right-wing politicians and the media. Curious!
In a fiery speech at the communist bloc, London Central Committee member Aiman Suhaimie explained that we need to follow the example of the Italian workers, by “blocking everything for Palestine”. A group of women who were passing through stopped to film his speech, and subsequently asked to buy three copies of The Communist.
They explained that they had no idea about the Italian general strike for Palestine, and were impressed with how we linked the struggle against the imperialist attacks on Iran and Lebanon to the ruling-class abusers at the top of society.
All in all, comrades managed to sell 400 issues of The Communist on the day. This is a resounding success. We received many positive comments about our striking front and back covers, which read: ‘Wipe out the Epstein class! Burn their system down!’ and ‘Down with all the racists and war criminals!’
RCP spokesperson Fiona Lali railed against Robinson’s supposedly ‘anti-establishment’ platform, pointing out his hypocrisy in “licking the establishment’s boots” by toeing their line on Israel.
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She led the block throughout, with chants of “billionaires your time is up, workers are rising, rising up”, “Keir Starmer, where are you? You’re to blame for Tommy’s crew”, and “from the belly of the beast, hands off the Middle East!”
A man who had come to march with another group was so impressed with our slogans and energy that he joined the communist bloc instead!
Simmering mood
Two and a half years on from the beginning of the genocide in Gaza, this weekend has shown once again that Palestine remains a lightning rod for all of the accumulated anger in society. There remains vast reserves of anger over the crimes of western governments, even if this rage is sometimes below the surface.
What’s more, the movement has developed and matured. For most attendees, Saturday’s march was just as much about countering the right and speaking out against the US’s war on Iran as it was about commemorating the Nakba.
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The leaders of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, who led the mobilisation for the day of action, explicitly called upon people not just to march for Palestine, but to march “united against Tommy Robinson and the far right.” Connecting the movement for Palestine with the movement against racism and the right is a hugely positive development.
It was also positive to see Britain’s largest trade union leaders such as Unison’s Andrea Egan, and PCS’s Fran Heathcote at the final rally. Ultimately, the Palestine movement has become synonymous with the fight against the right, racism, austerity, and the British state. Therefore it is doubly incumbent upon the trade union leadership to take on this struggle – in deeds as well as words.
It is unfortunate that the Together Alliance – which is backed and led by various trade unions – failed to mobilise for, or even endorse, the Nakba Day demonstration. This weekend’s march was an encouraging success, but there is untapped potential to land a serious blow against the British establishment, which is currently paralysed thanks to the economic impasse, and the crisis in the Starmer’s government.
In many ways, the left has sleepwalked its way to success in the past few months. The huge mobilisations on 28 March and 16 May weren’t the result of clear, militant demands, but on the groundswell of radical anger, which is not being articulated by the movement’s leaders. We cannot, therefore, rest on our laurels, and let this favourable situation pass us by.
With the Starmer government paralysed, and US imperialism on the ropes, it is time for the leaders of the working class to take their gloves off and come out fighting. We say:
- Starmer out!
- No trust in Labour!
- Mobilise against austerity and militarism!
- Down with the racists and the war criminals!
