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'Not in our name, not on our watch'

Thousands march in London to tell Trump he is not welcome

Stop Trump Coalition campaigners take part in a protest march from Portland Place to Parliament Square in London, on day one of the US President's second state visit to the UK, September 17, 2025

THOUSANDS marched in London today to tell Donald Trump he was not welcome in Britain as the US president was feted by royalty 25 miles away in Windsor.

Protests greeted the global leader of the far-right offensive, with four people arrested for projecting an image of Mr Trump with late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein onto Windsor Castle and a van displaying the same image was later stopped by police.

Anti-war, climate change, anti-racist, trade union and human rights groups united for the march through London, although Mr Trump’s schedule was designed to keep him well clear of the capital.

Opinion polling showed that they spoke for most of the country, with a YouGov survey finding disapproval of the state visit, Mr Trump’s second, by 45 per cent to 30. Fifty-three per cent believed his presidency had been negative for Britain.

“Piss off, you nasty orange lump” was the message on one home-made placard at the protest, which seemed to sum up the prevailing mood.

Demonstration organisers the Stop Trump Coalition said that “the large numbers of people marching today are telling Starmer and his government that they must stand up to Trump.

“There is a clear difference between having diplomatic relationships and hosting an authoritarian leader for the pageantry of a state visit. 

“It is naive to think that because the UK wines and dines him that Donald Trump will have any interest in supporting the UK in the future. 

“[Prime Minister Sir Keir] Starmer is selling out the UK for a tech deal that opens our country up to an invasion by big tech, without doing anything for the issues that matter to regular people. The only people who win in this deal are people like Peter Thiel, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg.”

The winners certainly do not include British steelworkers, as the Trump administration dashed hopes for the removal of 25 per cent tariffs on US imports from this country.

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “It looks like the government has thrown in the towel instead of fighting to stand up for the UK steel industry.

“We were told US tariffs on UK steel would be lifted completely, now that’s turned out to be yet another promise Trump has reneged on. It just shows Trump is an unreliable partner and that rewarding a bully only gets you so far.”

London Mayor Sadiq Khan, not in the invite list for the state banquet after frequent verbal clashes with the president, said Londoners would “reject the policies of fear and division.”

And Green leader Zack Polanski, speaking ahead of addressing the London march, said: “Our country has a proud tradition of standing up for the underdog. Today, that means standing alongside every child in Gaza; with all those in detention camps on the borders of the United States and with each and every one of those growing up in poverty here in Britain. 

“And standing up to the bully Donald Trump and his poodle, Nigel Farage.”

Kerry Moscogiuri of Amnesty International said that the “march was about sending a clear message that the UK does not welcome Trump’s policies with open arms. We reject his anti-human-rights agenda. We say not in our name, not on our watch.”

The president was shown around a special display of historical artefacts relating to US-British relations down the centuries inside the castle. These included a message from president Abraham Lincoln to Queen Victoria commiserating on the death of her husband Prince Albert, and something involving the late Queen Elizabeth and a hot dog picnic.

Mr Trump pronounced all this “amazing” and frequently said “wow.” Schoolchildren sang for the president in St George’s chapel, without apparent mishap.

Charles Windsor presented the president a bespoke book marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, among other gifts, while Mr Trump reciprocated with a sword for Mr Windsor and a Tiffany brooch for his wife Camilla.

Missing from all this was PM Sir Keir Starmer, who saw his favourability ratings drop to a subterranean net minus 60 per cent and suffered the first councillor defection direct from Labour to Reform, in Stevenage.

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ANDREW MURRAY wonders what the great communist foe of Oswald Mosley would make of today’s far-right surge, warning that while the triumph of Farage and ‘Robinson’ is far from inevitable, placing any faith in Starmer in an anti-fascist front is a fool’s errand