British PM: Our Flag Represents Our Diverse Country

EPA

UK's protests.

Britain will not surrender its flag to those who wish to use it as a symbol of violence, fear and division, British PM Keir Starmer said.

The British prime minister said: "the flag represents "our diverse country" and I will not allow people to feel intimidated on our streets because of their background or the colour of their skin".

His comments come after more than 150,000 people took to the streets of central London for a "Unite the Kingdom" march organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson, and about 5,000 took part in a counter-protest, co-ordinated by Stand Up To Racism.

Earlier, Business Secretary Peter Kyle said marchers were "demonstrating freedom of association and freedom of speech".

The prime minister said on Sunday afternoon: "People have a right to peaceful protest. It is core to our country's values.

"But we will not stand for assaults on police officers doing their job or for people feeling intimidated on our streets because of their background or the colour of their skin.

"Britain is nation proudly built on tolerance, diversity and respect. Our flag represents our diverse country and we will never surrender it to those that use it as a symbol of violence, fear and division."

Police say 26 officers were injured on the day - including four who were seriously hurt - with 24 people arrested.

For most of Saturday afternoon, central London was filled with thousands of people waving mainly union jacks as well as St George's flags. Some Scottish Saltires and Welsh flags were also seen.

A huge policing operation was put in place for the protests this weekend, with about 1,000 Met officers deployed and an extra 500 from other forces including Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Devon and Cornwall drafted in.

The protest was largely peaceful on Saturday lunchtime but as the afternoon continued, tensions flared.

The number of protesters joining the march, organised by Robinson, became too large to fit into Whitehall, police said, and confrontation took place when officers tried to stop them encircling counter-protesters.

Three of the 24 people arrested were women and the rest were men, while the youngest and oldest people detained at the protest were aged 19 and 58 respectively, the force said on Sunday.

Several people were arrested for more than one offence.

The force added officers were working to identify other people involved in disorder with a view to making further arrests.

Source: BBC



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