A continuous stream of demonstrators, spanning different ages and regions, flooded into Trafalgar Square to the tune of ‘Give Peace A Chance’ played by trombones.
Even as the first marchers reached Nelson’s Column, many were still queued up two miles back in Hyde Park, eagerly awaiting their turn to join Saturday’s Together Alliance demonstration in London. Organizers claimed that 500,000 individuals had united against the Far Right, marking the largest national protest in the UK’s history against this ideology, despite lower police estimates.
Various banners displayed solidarity from different places like ‘Chesterfield Dump Trump’, ‘Cornwall against Fascism’, ‘Nottingham Fights Back’, and ‘St Albans Together.’ The march caught the attention of onlookers like two elderly men from the Royal Academy of Art, who were amazed by the massive turnout.
Among the crowd were the ‘Red Rebels’ of Extinction Rebellion, clad in red robes and white-painted faces, walking silently in the opposite direction, while police vans lined the side streets along the mall.
I joined the ‘Singing Resistance’, a collective of choirs and singers inspired by Singing Resistance Minneapolis, who had been rehearsing for weeks to perform songs across the country. As the crowd sang, “I believe that one fine day, the power of love will rise above the love of power,” they held placards with messages like ‘Folk Against The Far Right’ and ‘sing for unity’.
Amidst the singers was a young girl in a colorful hat on her father’s shoulders, holding a placard that read ‘Be Nice, Don’t Fight’, adorned with daisies. The songs they sang were learned from the United States, where protesters braved extreme conditions to support their immigrant neighbors.
The singing continued in London under the noise of police helicopters and Extinction Rebellion drums, passing through barricades in the West End, under the gaze of iconic statues, all the way to Trafalgar Square.
While the march progressed in London, America witnessed what was touted as its largest-ever protest, with over 3,000 events in 50 states for the third No Kings demonstration.
The songs echoed solidarity across borders, emphasizing the shared fight against common enemies like hatred and division. In a remarkable show of unity, 500,000 individuals in Britain opted for hope over fear in the face of the Far Right.
Ros Wynne-Jones writes the Real Britain column every Friday in the Daily Mirror campaigning against government cuts and standing up for ordinary people.
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