Eight arrested at protest by far-right group Tommy Robinson in central London | Far Right

Thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday in a protest organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson, as well as a counter-protest.

The Metropolitan Police had announced in advance that around 1,000 officers were being deployed across the capital to “maintain the peace” and ensure the two groups were separated.

Eight people were arrested and several rescue workers were assaulted, but none were seriously injured.

The crowd protesting Robinson gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice before marching down the Strand to Trafalgar Square, where a rally was held.

Protesters were heard chanting “Rule, Britannia!”, “England till I die” and “We want our country back”. Police also said they were investigating a number of videos shared online in which “racist and anti-Muslim” chants could be heard.

Speakers at the rally decried immigration and multiculturalism as well as Covid vaccines, while people in the crowd waved British, English and Israeli flags and held signs that read: “Not far right, just right.”

The counter-protest, organised by Stand Up to Racism and Jeremy Corbyn’s Peace and Justice Project, started in Russell Square and marched to Whitehall.

The protesters carried banners reading “We are all migrants” and “Stop Islamophobia” as well as placards calling for an end to the war in Gaza.

Chants such as “Tommy Robinson, we know you, you’re a Nazi through and through” and “Nazi scum, off our streets” were also heard.

Speakers at the rally included Corbyn and Eddie Dempsey, deputy general secretary of the RMT union.

Police said two men were arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm after an assault on a counter-protester, while another man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency services worker and racially aggravated public order offence after a police officer was punched.

Four more people have been arrested outside a pub in Whitehall on suspicion of assaulting emergency workers after four police officers were attacked.

A man has been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and racially motivated public disorder after allegedly breaking the pole of a Palestinian flag and making racist insults.

The same day also saw a Trans Pride march from Langham Place, near Oxford Circus, to Hyde Park Corner. Police said a ninth person had been arrested on suspicion of assaulting a steward at the event.