We rode out the storm, we got through the storm, and now we are the storm, shouted the prominent right-wing extremist Tommy Robinson from a stage, as hundreds of thousands of people marched through London last weekend.
This is described as perhaps the largest nationalist manifestation held in the United Kingdom. A broad discontent gathered under numerous English and British flags. Slogans, songs, and speeches dealt with curbing immigration and "taking back" the country.
Also present via link was the world's richest man, Elon Musk, who proclaimed that the British parliament must be dissolved and everyone should "fight or die". The French far-right politician Éric Zemmour held a speech about "the great population exchange", a conspiracy theory that the white population of Europe is threatened.
Top of the agenda
The radical outbursts and the discontented gatherings take place when migration has become the most important issue for British voters in a short time. This has followed a multi-year development where more and more migrants have made their way to the United Kingdom by boat across the English Channel.
Previous Conservative governments promised to "stop the boats" and wanted to send asylum seekers to a third country, Rwanda. Keir Starmer's Labour government has promised to "crush the gangs", the human smugglers, but its confidence figures have only declined.
The opportunities to stay have been limited and border controls have been tightened, but the journeys have continued. So far this year, more than 30,000 people have crossed the channel to seek British asylum. Just during the first week of September, over 1,100 people arrived, while over 250 were stopped on the way.
In opinion polls, the long-time Brexit agitator Nigel Farage's party, the Reform Party, is challenging to be the country's most popular party, with promises to apprehend all boat migrants and deport hundreds of thousands of people.
Hotels spark anger
Many asylum seekers have been placed in hotels across the country, which has sparked reactions. During the summer, there have been demonstrations outside many of the hotels. They are said to aim to protect women and children, and in some cases, they have degenerated into violence and vandalism.
Violent crimes committed by migrants or people with a foreign background have been highlighted and have served as sparks, such as last summer, when violent riots broke out after a 17-year-old born in the United Kingdom with parents from Rwanda stabbed three small girls to death in Southport.
This summer, many angry demonstrations were held due to an asylum-seeking Somali man having harassed a 14-year-old girl outside London.
There are warnings of a large-scale spread of disinformation that fuels the anger.
The massive demonstration in London is a kind of signal horn that can get the government to do even more, said Business Minister Peter Kyle in a BBC interview on Sunday.
There are figures like Tommy Robinson who have the ability to reach a feeling of anxiety and discontent in society, he said, referring to the fact that the latest financial crisis hit many groups hard.
During the first half of 2025, over 111,000 people sought asylum in the United Kingdom. 39 percent of them (over 43,600) arrived in small boats crossing the English Channel.
The boat migrants came mainly from Afghanistan (6,360), Eritrea (over 5,975), Iran (4,322), Syria (3,935), and Sudan (3,770). Then followed Vietnam, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, and Turkey.
In 2024, at least 82 migrants died in connection with boat journeys across the English Channel, which is the highest number recorded for a year. So far this year, at least 20 people have died.
Source: British Home Office, BBC, IOM
