Trafalgar Square is filled with protesters against the UK visit of US President Donald Trump holding up placards as they take part in a march and rally in London on July 13, 2018. (Photo: VCG)
Chanting “Donald Trump has got to go,” tens of thousands of protesters marched through London on Friday waving banners and banging pots to demonstrate against the US president on his first official visit to Britain.
Under a brilliant blue sky, demonstrators streamed through central London’s main streets carrying placards saying “Dump Trump” and “Keep your tiny hands off women’s rights.” Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn was among the crowd.
Trafalgar Square is filled with protesters against the UK visit of US President Donald Trump holding up placards as they take part in a march and rally in London on July 13, 2018. (Photo: VCG)
Organizers said 250,000 people were protesting in London and other demonstrations were expected in cities around the country, including Windsor where the US president was due to have tea with Queen Elizabeth.
“Lock him in the tower,” one homemade placard said, just yards from where Prince Harry married Meghan Markle in May.
Police, who declined to put a number on the size of the demonstration, had sealed off parts of London including Piccadilly and Regent Street for marchers, while thousands filled Trafalgar Square to hear speeches.
Rachel Bennet with 9 week old Edith at London protest on July 13, 2018. (Photo: CGTN)
“Trump is not welcome in Britain,” said Grish Gregoran, 58, a shopkeeper who took the day off to attend the protests.
“We wanted to embarrass him, and I think we have done that today. We know how sensitive he is. It is horrible to hear the inflammatory language that he uses, and I am embarrassed that (Prime Minister) Theresa May has done so much to welcome him.”
Rachel Bennet, who was marching with her new born daughter, cradled in her arms, said Trump’s policies towards family separation and migration had motivated her to come and protest. "I want him to see that he’s not welcome here and that his policies are disgusting and that there are people here who will stand up to him."
"He professes to support Christian values. I don’t know what Bible he’s reading, but it’s not the same as mine,” said Reverend Kate Bottley. “You know that things are bad when the clergy are getting grumpy about it.”
Trafalgar Square is filled with protesters against the UK visit of US President Donald Trump holding up placards as they take part in a march and rally in London on July 13, 2018. (Photo: VCG)
Toby Shepherd said this was the first political protest he had been to since he was a child. "There’s a reason he’s not sticking around in London. He said it himself, he doesn’t feel welcome here and he shouldn’t feel welcome in any civilized country. We don't need him."
Activists kicked off the demonstrations on Friday by floating a six-meter-high (20-ft) blimp outside parliament depicting the US president as a snarling orange baby.
Trump told the Sun newspaper he was avoiding the capital as much as possible.
“I guess when they put out blimps to make me feel unwelcome, (there is) no reason for me to go to London,” he said.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who has repeatedly clashed with Trump on Twitter, defended the demonstrations as free speech.
“The idea that we restrict freedom of speech, the right to assemble, the right to protest because somebody might be offended is a slippery slope,” Khan told BBC Radio.
Khan said pro-Trump supporters would march on Saturday, although some were present on Friday, separated from the main demonstration by police.
A small group of pro-Trump supporters waved the US flag alongside the Union Jack, chanting “We want Trump” and “Trump for 2020.”
Chanting “Donald Trump has got to go,” tens of thousands of protesters marched through London on Friday waving banners and banging pots to demonstrate against the US president on his first official visit to Britain.