Tommy Robinson claims 'millions' turned up to march but authorities say it was significantly less
Tommy Robinson has been accused of fudging the numbers when bragging about how many people turned up to his 'free speech' rally.
Swathes of people have taken to the streets of central London today (13 September) to support the controversial far-right activist at his 'Unite the Kingdom' event.
Protestors have been making their way towards Whitehall, where speakers such as Laurence Fox and Donald Trump's former strategist Steve Bannon addressed the crowd.
Chants such as 'f*** Keir Starmer' and 'Keir Starmer is a w****r' rang out en route to the event on Saturday, which Robinson has dubbed the 'UK’s largest free speech festival'.
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However, it seems that the 42-year-old might have drastically exaggerated the amount of supporters he attracted in London.
Robinson - real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon - shared a post on X claiming that 'millions' of people had turned out in force for the march.
It was accompanied by footage which showed a sea of Union Jacks and England flags being waved, while people could be heard chanting 'Charlie' repeatedly, in reference to the late Charlie Kirk.
One member of the crowd was also seen clutching a framed picture of the right-wing political activist who was shot dead on Wednesday (10 September).
Robinson wrote: "MILLIONS HAVE TURNED UP FOR OUR FOR OUR UNITE THE KINGDOM EVENT!!!! This is the biggest protest in British history.
"British patriots are chanting the name of @charliekirk11 in his memory."
But according to the Metropolitan Police - which has deployed around 1,000 officers around London today - there are about 110,000 people in attendance, rather than 'millions'.
The force told The Guardian that it is 'difficult' to estimate the size of the crowd, but that the number was a lot less than what Robinson had suggested.
"It is difficult to estimate numbers in attendance at busy protests but we use a combination of CCTV and police helicopter footage to do so," the Met said.
"We believe the number of people in attendance at the ‘Unite the Kingdom’ demonstration is around 110,000. Estimates provided by organisers and the police will often differ."
According to police, there are also about 5,000 people who have gathered for a counter-protest, the ‘Stand Up To Racism’ (SUTR) demonstration, in the UK capital.
Barriers have been erected to create a 'sterile area' between the warring sides.
Social media users were quick to call out Robinson on his supposed miscalculation of how many supporters showed up for him.
One person asked: "There's a lot of mixed numbers going around, what's the real number?"
Another wrote: "Biggest protest in British history, huh? Hard to even imagine that many people in one place."
And a third simply put: "Millions did not turn up."
Strict conditions have been imposed under the Public Order Act on where and when campaigners can protest, the Met said.
The Unite the Kingdom march is set to finish at 6pm, while the SUTR event is set to wrap up at 4pm.
Topics: Politics, Social Media, Tommy Robinson, UK News, Racism, London, Crime
Olivia Burke