On September 13, central London was taken over by competing gatherings. One, organised by Tommy Robinson, was billed as a free speech festival and national pride event called Unite The Kingdom. The other, March Against Fascism, was put together as a protest against the Robinson rally, with participation from Stand Up To Racism, backed by a coalition of Britain’s unions.

The Metropolitan Police estimate that 150,000 people attended Unite The Kingdom, with 5,000 taking part in the March Against Fascism. The police had planned for the two marches to be kept separate, but due to circumstances unknown at the time of writing, protesters ended up face to face, with unfortunate and predictable consequences.

1984 Today was there to speak with the participants of both events and ask about their reasons for attending. What emerged was a troubling picture of a country in which people of all political affiliations have lost faith, where the incumbent government is disliked equally on both sides of the police cordon, where communication across ideological boundaries is felt by many to be almost impossible.

What seemed to be agreed upon by nearly everyone we spoke with is that “the State is broken”, Prime Minister Keir Starmer is a focal point of discontent, and belief in the possibility of meaningful change is in short supply.

I left with the distinct impression that if only the people who were kind and open enough to speak with me could have the opportunity to speak to one another in the same way, some of the suspicion, division, and animus might be dispelled.

Here’s hoping…

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