UK Bars 11 Foreign Activists From Entering Ahead of Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom Rally

The UK government has blocked 11 foreign far-right agitators from entering the country ahead of a rally on Saturday organized by anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon. The Unite the Kingdom march, expected to draw thousands, will see protesters gather at Parliament Square.

Among those barred is US-based anti-Islam influencer Valentina Gomez, who attended the first Unite the Kingdom march last September.

That previous rally began largely peacefully but featured a series of violent confrontations with police and anti-Muslim hate speech incidents. An annual pro-Palestinian demonstration, the Nakba Day march, begins at Waterloo Place on the same day. Tens of thousands of football fans are also expected at Wembley Stadium for the FA Cup Final.

The Metropolitan Police has drafted more than 4,000 officers and is anticipating one of its busiest days in recent years. The force has imposed the highest degree of control on the Unite the Kingdom rally. This includes the first authorisation of live facial recognition cameras at a demonstration, deployed specifically at the Unite the Kingdom rally.

She added that the cameras are positioned on the outskirts, not at the protest or in the middle of the march. Other measures include deploying drones to identify suspects, putting armoured vehicles on standby and equipping all officers with riot gear. Specialist officers are primed to take swift decisions to arrest and charge hate speech crimes.

New guidance issued by the Crown Prosecution Service pushes prosecutors to consider whether protest placards, banners and chants viewed on social media may amount to offences of stirring up hatred. Stephen Parkinson, the Director of Public Prosecutions, said: "This is not about restricting free speech. " Sir Keir Starmer said "we're in a fight for the soul of this country" ahead of the protest.

In a statement on Friday, he declared: "Its organisers are peddling hatred and division, plain and simple. " BBC News reported that in a post on X on Friday, Robinson wrote: "Keir Starmer's regime are the enemy of the British people. " The BBC has approached Unite the Kingdom for comment.

The Metropolitan Police said the risks required the highest degree of control, including facial recognition technology that Chiswick said would help protect peaceful protesters by spotting those there to cause violent harm.