Never has the Cenotaph, in its 103 years of standing sentry on Whitehall, been “defended” on Armistice Day by a Port Vale fan supping a can of Stella Artois.
“I’m here in case the jihadists get past the police, who’ll probably just let them through anyway,” said Ben Neale, 22, from Tunstall, Staffordshire. “If they do come, they’ll soon wish they hadn’t.”
As it transpired, it was some of his fellow football supporters, backed aggressively by elements of the far right, who broke violently through police lines, toppling over metal barricades, throwing missiles and temporarily forcing officers back as they surged towards the Cenotaph on the anniversary of the end of the first world war.
Many stated explicitly that they had travelled to Whitehall because of comments made by the home secretary, Suella Braverman, who, days earlier, had claimed that police treated football supporters – such as Neale – unfavourably compared to “politically connected minority groups”. “She’s the only one making any sense at the minute. We’re sleepwalking into a race war,” said a middle-aged man who said he was a Sunderland fan but did not want to be named. “Armistice is our day!” he added.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Many stated explicitly that they had travelled to Whitehall because of comments made by the home secretary, Suella Braverman, who, days earlier, had claimed that police treated football supporters – such as Neale – unfavourably compared to “politically connected minority groups”.
So too was Tommy Robinson, founder of the anti-Muslim English Defence League, who had positioned himself in the middle of the throng, basking in the adulation of fresh-faced supporters who periodically chanted his first name.
As the pockets of “patriots” attempted in vain to reach the latest pro-Palestinian march, it was quickly evident that London was witnessing one of Britain’s biggest days of mass protest.
A vast crowd – 150 times the size of the gathering several hours earlier near the Cenotaph – was making its way south from Hyde Park towards the Thames, thousands of red and green Palestinian flags glowing in the sun.
As the numbers joining the protest continued to swell, sporadic shouts of the controversial chant “From the river to the sea” could be heard, further alarming those who say its meaning is laced with genocidal intent.
Last month, the Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council and Community Security Trust asked prosecutors to look into whether chanting the slogan was a criminal offence.
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