The protestors started on the Walton street before heading to the city centre
Anti-immigration protestors who gathered in Walton march to city centre(Image: Liverpool Echo)
As a small protest made its way along County Road today (Saturday, July 4), many people carried on with their days as normal. Police swarmed County Road long before a single protestor arrived for a far-right rally this afternoon.
Vans and mounted officers were already patrolling the streets around County Road when the ECHO arrived before 10am. We saw dozens of Matrix vans and an ambulance parked up outside a bingo hall on Carisbrook Road, close to the “designated protest area” drawn up by police, at the junction of Spellow Lane, County Road and Walton Road. The far-right group, numbering around 50, slowly congregated outside the Royal Oak pub, which had closed its doors.
A number of the crowd brought cameras and selfie sticks to the march. Others had cameras strapped across their chests. The group arrived in far smaller numbers than previously seen on County Road, despite being publicised via several right-wing social media accounts.
Young men arrived in all-black sportswear. Some older men wore flag patches. Others were seen wearing union flag armbands. County Road has become a frequent gathering place for such groups.
A protest on the Walton street last month saw large numbers of people march brandishing English flags and banners of “no more illegals” and “mass deportations”.
Protestors outside the Royal Oak, Walton(Image: Liverpool Echo)
The Spellow Hub library, set on fire by rioters in the wake of the Southport attack in 2024, and the Thomas Frost Wetherspoons, both remained closed today, as well as a number of businesses that remained shuttered into Saturday afternoon. The Wetherspoons opened after the protestors had cleared.
Police horses were fitted with Perspex visors. Three counter protestors, all pensioners, arrived at the other side of the road, to chants of “left wing scum, off our streets”.
One of the right-wing demonstrators unfurled a St George’s cross defaced with the words “send them back”. Some cars sounded their horns at the anti-immigrant protestors. However, the majority of people on County Road continued with their business, pushing prams along and made their way to shops.
Anti-immigration protestors in Walton(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Most locals ignored the group or watched timorously from doorways. Children walked by hand-in-hand with their parents, or continued to play on nearby side streets, heedless of the crowd’s chants of hatred yards away.
Police filmed the scene, with a live stream being fed to other officers who were part of the operation.
Police horses in visors(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Police had positioned cars and vans all along the marching route, down Walton Road, Great Homer Street, and across London Road to St George’s Plaza. The procession set off at around 1pm, and was moved along by police at pace.
The group chanted as they went and flew a union flag from a tall, thin pole. It continued without incident into the city centre, with the way cleared by police.
Anti-immigration protestors at St George’s Hall(Image: Liverpool Echo)
The protest concluded at St George’s Plaza. The group climbed the steps of St George’s Hall and chanted “get them out” while some held a St George’s flag at the top.
A wedding party exited the building from the Queen Square side and headed around the corner to investigate the noise. The area around Lime Street station was busy with slightly bemused onlookers, many of them rugby league fans visiting the city for the Magic Weekend event at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.