{"id":37711,"date":"2026-05-16T04:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T04:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/37711\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T04:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T04:14:09","slug":"britain-on-edge-crisis-politics-and-streets-braced-for-protest-ahead-of-fraught-weekend-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/37711\/","title":{"rendered":"Britain on edge: Crisis politics and streets braced for protest ahead of fraught weekend \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

There was an urgency to Keir Starmer<\/a>\u2019s tone on Monday morning, a tremulousness in his voice. The UK<\/a> prime minister rarely sounds this emotive or grave.<\/p>\n

He was arguing that British values of tolerance and respect were under threat from a more abrasive, divisive form of politics. One focused on keeping foreigners out.<\/p>\n

Starmer\u2019s eyes narrowed as he leaned over the lectern at the Coin Street neighbourhood project in Waterloo, central London, where he was giving his speech, emphasising each word with a lawyer\u2019s precision.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s British,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is not the decency and respect we are known for … But it\u2019s here. That politics is with us now. And you\u2019ll see it again on Saturday at a march designed to confront and intimidate this diverse city, this diverse country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starmer announced he would block foreign hard-right \u201cagitators\u201d from entering Britain to take part in the latest Unite the Kingdom rally by anti-immigration activist, Tommy Robinson<\/a>. The event is expected to draw hundreds of thousands to Parliament Square.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a pro-Palestine Nakba Day rally, which in effect will be a hard-left counter protest, will be at nearby Waterloo Place. Starmer wants police to arrest anyone who chants \u201cglobalise the intifada\u201d \u2013 British Jews say it makes them feel unsafe because, they believe, it is a coded call to harm them as proxies in the struggle against Israel.<\/p>\n

Protesters from both marches \u2013 enemies in belief and much else \u2013 will need to be kept apart to prevent trouble. Throw in the FA Cup final on Saturday, and London is in for one of its busiest policing days. About 4,000 officers, including many drafted in from forces outside the city, are being sent in to keep order.<\/p>\n

The number of officers is as many as an army brigade. That is what is needed to keep London from boiling over these days. The city feels like a tinderbox heading into the weekend. In truth, so can much of Britain when immigration and culture are at the fore.<\/p>\n

\"UKUK prime minister Keir Starmer meets police officers to discuss operational planning ahead of this weekend’s protests in London. Photograph: Peter Nicholls\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is nothing less than a battle for the soul of our nation,\u201d said Starmer. Meanwhile, the UK prime minister is in the fight of his political life, one which he increasingly seems set to lose.<\/p>\n

UK politics feels just as febrile as the culture wars playing out on London\u2019s streets. Starmer drew a link between these issues and the fragmentation of the political system, with the rise of Nigel Farage\u2019s Reform UK on the right and the Greens on the left.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Keir Starmer finds himself in office without powerOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

If media are but a mirror to society, politics are its ugly reflection.<\/p>\n

Starmer was at Coin Street on Monday trying to save his premiership. It was as existential as that.<\/p>\n

Last weekend, the calls began in his Labour Party for him to resign or lay out a timetable to quit. Labour was annihilated in elections last week. Starmer, assailed by accusations of being disorganised and uninspiring, was blamed.<\/p>\n

His earnest words about British values being under threat were the strongest moments of an otherwise typically insipid speech. Within an hour, calls for him to quit resumed.<\/p>\n

Starmer was resolute that he would not resign: \u201cI will prove my doubters wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

But from the moment he finished speaking at Coin Street, his exit seemed like the most likely end to this story. By Monday night, it was being reported that cabinet members, including home secretary Shabana Mahmood, were urging him to plan for his exit.<\/p>\n

\"WesWes Streeting has ambitions to replace Labour leader and prime minister Keir Starmer. Photograph: Brook Mitchell\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

Tuesday morning was one of those political circus moments that used to happen once in a generation, but which now crash into Britain\u2019s news cycle with unnerving regularity.<\/p>\n

It is believed that up to six cabinet members, including health secretary Wes Streeting, one of his main rivals for the Labour leadership and the keys to Downing Street, wanted to confront Starmer at the weekly UK cabinet meeting.<\/p>\n

A feverish, shouting horde of media on Downing Street \u2013 The Irish Times was among them \u2013 asked ministers if they wanted Starmer to quit, as they ran the gauntlet in front of cameras.<\/p>\n

A Mackem accent, Keith Bray\u2019s from GB News, soared impressively above all others, asking ministers if Starmer should go. His booming voice was the soundtrack of the dramatic moment. If the British did Reeling in the Years, this would be on its 2026 edition.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeith Brays? He certainly does,\u201d said another member of the Westminster press pack.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Keir Starmer\u2019s troubles must be worrying Miche\u00e1l MartinOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Starmer basically refused to let his cabinet rivals speak at the meeting about his position, or even to listen him. He bunkered down for the fight and by that evening, his allies in Labour\u2019s parliamentary party believed he had seen off Streeting.<\/p>\n

But the health secretary\u2019s MP allies \u2013 the \u201cswifties\u201d calling for Starmer\u2019s \u201cswift\u201d exit \u2013 kept popping up. Some of Streeting\u2019s allies also started resigning from government jobs. Yet, Starmer\u2019s allies were confident that Streeting didn\u2019t have the number of MPs, 81, required to trigger a leadership contest.<\/p>\n

By Thursday morning, Streeting had quit the cabinet. He had \u201clost confidence\u201d in Starmer.<\/p>\n

All the while, allies of Starmer\u2019s other main rival for the leadership, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham<\/a>, were also calling for the prime minister to go in \u201can orderly transition of power\u201d \u2013 this was code for a delayed contest, to give Burnham time to return to parliament as an MP in a byelection.<\/p>\n

It seemed allies of Starmer were right and Streeting didn\u2019t yet have the numbers for a challenge. He quit but didn\u2019t trigger a contest. Hours later on Thursday, Burnham made his big move. An MP in Makerfield, near Wigan, stepped aside to give him a potential route back to parliament. If Burnham can hold off Farage\u2019s Reform in a byelection expected next month, he will return to Westminster as a conquering hero.<\/p>\n

\"MayorMayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham is making a bid for the prime minister’s office. Photograph: Ryan Jenkinson\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Starmer would likely be next on Burnham\u2019s list for vanquishing. He is, by far, more popular in Labour than the prime minister, and also Streeting, who increasingly appears to see the writing on the wall.<\/p>\n

Former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, whose tax affairs are now in order, and energy secretary Ed Miliband may yet have something to say about the leadership. But for now, the political momentum \u2013 the Big Mo \u2013 appears to be with Burnham.<\/p>\n

Starmer seems too weak to block him from competing. The irony for the prime minister is that his only hope of keeping his biggest internal rival out of the Labour leadership race is the intervention of his biggest external rival: Farage.<\/p>\n

If the Reform leader can galvanise the vote in Makerfield for his party\u2019s byelection candidate, he could yet defeat Burnham and do Starmer a favour.<\/p>\n

Farage\u2019s election slogan last week was: \u201cVote Reform, get Starmer out.\u201d Now, he is effectively trying to keep him in by battling Burnham. Meanwhile, the Manchester mayor would probably love to \u2013 but never will \u2013 repurpose Reform\u2019s slogan for the upcoming byelection. \u201cVote Burnham, get Starmer out\u201d is basically what the whole thing is about.<\/p>\n

Such is the head spinning mode of recent British politics.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, as the weekend drew in and Robinson\u2019s Unite the Kingdom rally, and the left-wing protest, drew in, Starmer returned to sounding the alarm and promising action. On Friday, he released a video and statement decrying the events. He revealed that Britain\u2019s border officers had barred 11 \u201cagitators\u201d coming to Robinson\u2019s rally.<\/p>\n

\"1111 far-right agitators have been barred from the UK ahead of Tommy Robinson’s rally <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in a fight for the soul of this country, and the Unite the Kingdom march this weekend is a stark reminder of exactly what we are up against. Its organisers are peddling hatred and division, plain and simple,\u201d said Starmer.<\/p>\n

Robinson told The Irish Times on Friday that the UK prime minister was peddling \u201csmears and lies and false accusations\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone with a difference of opinion to the communist Starmer is labelled as an extremist,\u201d said Robsinon, also sometimes named in media as Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0A day with Tommy Robinson, leader of Britain\u2019s right-wing nationalist upsurgeOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Robinson continued: \u201cStarmer can\u2019t stop rapists, jihadists from coming into the country … Yet here he is stopping people with different political opinions. It is two-tier tyranny from the government, and they will only embolden people to come tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

An unpalatable truth for Starmer and perhaps for Britain is that people such as Robinson are at the sharp end of movements, with much of the energy, enthusiasm and momentum in UK social and cultural debates today.<\/p>\n

Starmer and the British political system can condemn rally organisers on the fringes of the political left and right. But it is getting harder to ignore them.<\/p>\n

Whoever eventually succeeds Starmer in the race for Downing Street will face the same problems he does.<\/p>\n

Britain is on the edge, its centre in real danger of collapse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There was an urgency to Keir Starmer\u2019s tone on Monday morning, a tremulousness in his voice. The UK…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37712,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[7786,5172,13,94,4655,27,554,1723,5,4108],"class_list":{"0":"post-37711","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-britain","8":"tag-andy-burnham","9":"tag-angela-rayner","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-keir-starmer","12":"tag-labour-party-uk","13":"tag-london","14":"tag-metropolitan-police","15":"tag-tommy-robinson","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-wes-streeting"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116582316119020483","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}