London, UK – Tens of thousands of Union Jack-clad protestors took to the streets of London last Saturday, May 16, to attend the “Unite the Kingdom” (UTK) rally, a march organized by far-right British political activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.
Although most protestors were displaying the flags and insignia of the United Kingdom and its constituent nations — Wales, Scotland, England and Northern Ireland — advocates of various international causes were also out in force.
The U.S. Stars and Stripes, the Iranian Lion and Sun — the flag of the Iranian monarchy and opposition to the Islamic Republic — and the Israeli flag were the most common foreign flags flown.
Many attendees also wore hats that read Make Britain Great Again or MEGA (Make England Great Again), reimagined versions of U.S. President Donald Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) slogan. Others spoke of the importance of opposing Islam and its supposed encroachment on Western civilization.
This merging of the professed British patriotism of Tommy Robinson and his supporters with advocacy for Trumpism, the U.S. war in Iran, Israeli actions in the Gaza strip and international opposition to Islam appear to demonstrate strengthening international cooperation and coordination between various right-wing Christian nationalist movements all over the world.
Spotlight shines on Iranian and Palestinian conflicts
As the U.S.-Iran war conflict continues, Britain’s involvement — or lack thereof — in the war has come under increasing scrutiny.
Two members of the British-Iranian diaspora, who told EU Reports they had travelled from Manchester to attend the rally, spoke about the reasons for their attendance.
“We are against the Mullahs [the Iranian Islamic clergy who hold political power] regime in Iran because when the people went to protest in Iran … they killed over 40,000 innocent people and shut the internet. We don’t have any contact with [the] inside of Iran”, one claimed.
In January this year, large numbers of Iranian anti-regime protestors who took to the streets were indeed killed by the Iranian authorities. U.S.-based human rights organization Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) confirmed that over 6,000 protestors were killed. However, The Guardian reported that some of its sources inside Iran suspected that the death toll could be as high as 30,000.
Image Source: Raphael McMahon (own image)
“The Islamic Republic is still killing the people every single day … the UK government supports them. We don’t want them to support them. We want the Iranian embassy shut down in this country.” By contrast, Tommy Robinson “supports the Iranian people”, the British-Iranians claimed.
The UK has largely stayed out of the U.S.-Iranian conflict, though it has allowed the U.S. to use Royal Air Force bases for defensive operations and has sent a Royal Navy destroyer to protect shipping in the Iranian-controlled Strait of Hormuz. The UK government has also consistently condemned the killing of civilian protestors by the Iranian regime.
Tommy Robinson has previously called for the toppling of the Iranian regime and expressed support for Iran’s anti-regime protestors, as sattendees also flew Israeli flags.
Robinson has furthermore been a consistent supporter of Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip, which have been deemed “genocidal” by leading experts on genocide.
On the same day as the UTK rally, a pro-Palestine march commemorating the 78th year anniversary of the Nakba — the forced displacement of approximately 750,000 Palestinians during the establishment of the State of Israel — took place.
Israeli supporters at the UTK rally criticized that march, along with other pro-Palestine marches that have been taking place with increasing frequency across the UK since the October 7 attack by Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on Israel.
An attendee with an Israeli flag from Manchester, who identified himself to EU Reports only as Dan, called the pro-Palestine marches hateful.
“I do support Israel, they’re a democratic country, we support each other as [democratic] countries … I also believe in Tommy Robinson … he’s a good guy”, the Mancunian said.
“The Palestinian lot have given hate speeches against Israel constantly, for the last year, every week. This is just … once a year … this is a kickback against this terrorizing government, who consider Israel an enemy.”
Although many figures in the British political establishment have alleged that there are links between rising anti-semitic attacks in the UK and pro-Palestine protests, the organizers of the marches insist that protests are overwhelmingly peaceful and point out that pro-Palestine protests in the UK are often attended by large numbers of British Jews.
Image Source: Raphael McMahon (own image)
Ideology of Islamoskeptic Christian nationalism promoted by international speakers
The calls by UTK protesters to increase UK support for Israel and the U.S. war in Iran demonstrate the seemingly contradictory internationalization of the avowedly nationalistic populism on show at the UTK rally.
Although British speakers such as Robinson and former LBC Presenter Katie Hopkins and TV personality-turned-London mayoral candidate Ant Middleton addressed the crowds, prominent international right-wing figures were also given a platform.
American conservative commentator Glenn Beck told the UTK protesters that “there are millions of Americans … across the other side of the world that see you, hear you and are praying for you and are standing with you today.”
Beck also criticized the apparent advance of Islamic Sharia Law in the UK and the U.S. as a “shared failure on both sides of the Atlantic”. To counter this, he argued, British and American citizens “can demand that every person that comes to our shore or the shores of any country in Western civilization … must live under the same equal law”.
Sharia law is an Islamic religious law system designed to act as a moral guide for Muslims. Although Sharia courts operate in the UK and can act as arbiters on issues for the British Muslim community, their rulings have no official legal standing.
This notwithstanding, Beck’s words align closely with the views of the current American administration under U.S. President Donald Trump, which has repeatedly criticized European countries for allowing large numbers of Muslim migrants and their supposed failure to confront Islamism.
Image Source: Raphael McMahon (own image)
The religious undertones of Beck’s speech and the Trump administration’s criticisms were echoed by Polish MEP Dominik Tarczyński, who was allegedly prevented from attending the rally in person by the UK Home Office.
Tarczyński addressed the crowd via video link, calling them “lions” and “patriots” while commending them for standing up for what he called a “Christian Europe”.
Other far-right anti-Islam activists, such as the Colombian-American former Republican candidate Valentina Gómez and Dutch activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek, were also barred from entering the UK to attend the rally. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer backed this decision, stating that the UK would block the entry of those “who seek to incite hatred and violence.”
Nevertheless, the attempted or actual participation of these figures in the UTK rally indicates that the British and Christian nationalism espoused by right-wing figures such as Tommy Robinson is becoming increasingly enmeshed with support for international causes associated with opposition to Islam, be they the war between the U.S. and the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Israeli actions in the largely Muslim Palestinian territories, or the issue of Muslim migration to Europe.
Featured Image Description: The 2026 Unite the Kingdom rally in Central London
Image Credit: Raphael McMahon (own picture)
