02.04.2026
Together, but for what?
Hundreds of thousands rallied in central London on March 28. Yes, the spirit was great. Yes, it was much bigger than Tommy Robinson’s ‘Unite the kingdom’ rally. But where, asks Ian Spencer, does the Together Alliance’s broad-as-possible politics take us?
We formed up on Park Lane, for the march to Whitehall for the speeches, before going onto Trafalgar Square for the music gig. The organisers claimed there were 500,000 of us - of course, it is hard to know the true figure, but it was certainly huge.
WhatsApp messages filled the air, as people still on the way to central London expressed their anxiety at missing out on the great event, because they were stuck in the traffic. But they need not have worried: it was about two hours before there was any forward movement at all.
After helping to distribute the Weekly Worker, I joined the Your Party bloc outside the Dorchester Hotel (of which more later). About three hours later, I had shuffled as far as Hyde Park Corner, while the head of the demo had already reached Whitehall. Yes, it was that big. Not as big as the demonstration against the Iraq war, but up there - approaching the size of the first, very big Palestine solidarity demo at the start of the genocide.
The demonstration against the far right was organised by the Together Alliance - described on its website as “made up of hundreds of civil society organisations representing over seven million people”.1 These included trade unions, charities, faith and environmental groups and community activists. They certainly had the endorsement of a smattering of celebs, such as Lenny Henry, Paloma Faith and Billy Bragg.
In the lead bloc were, among others, MPs Zarah Sultana, Jeremy Corbyn and Zack Polanski as the spectre at the feast. After all, while Your Party, started with a high of 800,000 expressions of interest (just think, a lot more than the multitude that were here on the day), it had seen steady haemorrhage of membership and hope ever since. By contrast, the Greens have seen spectacular growth - up to around 220,000 paid-up members, not to mention success in by-elections. Not only that, but Zack would also get to speak at the rally and dance on stage at the gig!
After the lead bloc, it was striking that there was a sizable presence of trade union banners and members (it feels very odd today to catch a whiff of the Labour Party at a demo). There were teachers, civil servants, firefighters, industrial and general workers unions - all this in stark contrast to the Palestine solidarity demonstrations, where calls to close down industries with links to the Israeli and complicit UK arms industry seem to cause discomfort, particularly to the GMB union.
Others, many of whom remembered the million-strong demonstration against the Iraq war, were outraged at the latest UK support for yet another illegal US-led war, and make no mistake, not because they had any illusions in the Iranian government as part of an ‘axis of resistance’. There was a sizable bloc of Iranians opposed to the Tehran theocracy, as well as the imperialist violence against the people of Iran.
Faith groups - Jewish, Muslim, Christian and more besides - made up another large bloc. Over 20 Christian groups were marching “against Christian nationalism and the far-right’s use of Britain’s ‘Christian heritage’ to justify racism and anti-immigrant rhetoric”.2 This included pacifist Quakers, and even the Church of England were out in force. It is a funny old world when, as a result of the current Labour government’s policies, the C of E can look as though it is part of the left opposition.
The day had a carnival atmosphere, aided by good weather, which helped the creative arts make their contribution. In one place there were papier mache parodies of Trump; in another a punky reinterpretation of Morris dancing. Seriously.
Naturally, political groups made up a very large bloc. Of course, the exuberance of this or that group is not a scientific insight into their relative health, but, if it were, the Socialist Party in England and Wales seemed to be in decline, but still present in some numbers. By contrast another shard from the fracture of Militant, the Revolutionary Communist Party, were out in force and in good voice. The Socialist Workers Party was out in large numbers - both as themselves and as their Stand up to Racism avatar.
The Greens too were out on the streets - not just quantitatively, but qualitatively different: a reflection of the influx of hundreds or thousands of new members, many obviously having previously been in left groups and having brought with them their own culture of protest and demonstration elan. After all, Polanski’s appearance on stage was not an accident.
The demonstration may have been billed as a gathering of groups against Farage, Netanyahu and Trump, but it was mostly focused on Farage. There was not much from the platform about Palestine or Iran and little criticism of the government. There was even a video from London mayor Sadiq Khan. Billy Bragg was claiming from the platform that only Labour could defeat Farage - the same Labour Party that is a co-belligerent in the ongoing genocide in Palestine and now the slaughter in Iran.
People appalled at the Palestine genocide made up large numbers at the demonstration - they are determined to continue their resistance, despite increasing state oppression and calculated indifference from the media. The Labour government has shown itself as much against protest as it is in favour of the proscription of Palestine Action (and the restriction of the centuries-old right to trial by jury, as is, of course, the Tory opposition).
During the day, the Metropolitan Police arrested 18 people, who, it said, had staged a demonstration in support of Palestine Action, outside New Scotland Yard, even though the proscription of PA had been ruled unlawful in the high court. The justification for this was that home secretary Shabana Mahmood had lodged an appeal.
The Your Party bloc included a few hundred people from all over the country, despite the party’s leadership having given no public support and done nothing to organise or facilitate their presence. It was entirely the efforts of party members themselves, in organised proto-branches, which the leadership seems to have no intention of recognising.
Massive demonstrations can play an important role, but then what? We all knew what we were against, even if, for different groups, the emphasis was many and varied. Certainly, most were determined that this demonstration should be a damn sight bigger than Tommy five-name’s flag fest in order to ensure that Reform will not have a clear run in putting forward Farage as a UK Trump. But what are we for?
The demonstration’s themes of ‘love, hope and unity’ are set against the backdrop of a global political shift to the right. This is not because of some resurgence of ‘fascism’ (see last week’s Weekly Worker3), but because this is capitalism, red in tooth and claw. Whereas, in response to the existence of the USSR, a right reformist social democracy once became economic orthodoxy, allied to the concession of the welfare state, now the US State Department is actively promoting far-right movements and groups across Europe and beyond.4
There is no obvious sign that this will change anytime soon. Mid-term elections in the US and the May local elections in the UK may be the harbinger of change, but I doubt we will see a significant shift away from the march to war. The question is, will it bring into being the kind of movement that can assert the class interests of workers over the arms manufacturers and those committed to maximising profit at all costs?
I know a lot of people who have talked in social media about how uplifting they found last weekend’s demonstration, but without a movement that can express the interests of our class it will, unfortunately, remain in the collective memory as part of some forlorn hope.