PROTEST organisers hailed the hundreds of thousands of anti-racists turning out in London on Saturday to oppose the far right and defend the right to protest on Nakba Day.

Palestine Solidarity Campaign said that 250,000 anti-racists, trade unionists, campaigners and community organisations mobilised in the capital.

The mass turnout was in response to a sustained campaign by Establishment politicians and commentators, including senior Labour figures and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, to press the authorities to restrict or ban pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

Prosecutors had been told to consider whether protest placards, banners and chants viewed on social media may amount to offences of stirring up hatred during the rallies.

Organisers also said that Tommy Robinson and the far right’s march and rally to Unite the Kingdom had failed and said just 35,000 turned out — around a third of the crowd that he pulled to the last Unite the Kingdom demonstration on September 13.

The Unite the Kingdom rally was joined by neonazi groups, with the antisemitic White Vanguard organisation bringing their banner onto the march.

Stand Up to Racism co-convener Weyman Bennett said: “Tommy Robinson tried to use his protest to silence solidarity with Palestine and divide communities through racism and Islamophobia.

“He failed, and thousands of people stood together to defend the right to protest and to say clearly that the far right does not speak for the majority.”

Fellow co-convener Sabby Dhalu said: “The attempts by Establishment politicians to delegitimise protest helped create the atmosphere that Tommy Robinson wanted to exploit.

“But people refused to be intimidated. Our movement is broad, united and determined to oppose racism, fascism and attacks on democratic rights.”

The British government had also blocked 11 foreign nationals described by the prime minister as “far-right agitators” from entering the country ahead of the Unite the Kingdom rally.

MP Diane Abbott said they faced a “common enemy” in the far right, saying: “They are viciously right-wing, viciously racist, they are anti-black, anti-Muslim, and viciously antisemitic.

“We have to come together to fight the racists, to fight the fascists, to fight the antisemites.”

Former Labour leader and Your Party co-founder Jeremy Corbyn told supporters at the pro-Palestine rally in Pall Mall that Westminster needs a change in “policy,” not “personalities.”

Your Party co-founder Zarah Sultana told the protesters that Andy Burnham was “not an alternative” to Sir Keir Starmer and “is another Establishment politician cut from the same zionist cloth.”

Nakba rallies took place around the country at the weekend with events in Edinburgh, Manchester and Abergavenny.

Local groups, including Cardiff Palestine Action, CND Cymru and West Wales Against Arms, travelled to London to defend the right to protest.

More than 350 communities in neighbourhoods and constituencies across Britain also organised events during the week to counter the voices of hate and division.

The launch of A Million Acts of Hope saw a week of action taking place across the country, celebrating hope and unity in local communities.

The Metropolitan Police said there were 43 arrests on Saturday after the force put 4,000 police officers on duty in the capital’s streets.

The Met said 20 of the arrests were linked to the Unite the Kingdom protest, while 12 were associated with the Nakba protest.

The remaining 11 arrests were not linked to either group, or their connections were not confirmed.

The police also arrested two men near Euston station, planning to attend the far-right protest, over an incident in Birmingham.