Brian Tamaki loves a march so much that he\u2019s now attending one, a very high profile one, in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n
But why was he there?<\/p>\n
A march took place in central London<\/a> overnight (September 13th), organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson. Dubbed the \u2018Unite the Kingdom\u2019 rally, estimates vary on its attendance: millions, according to some supporters on Twitter, but more likely around 100,000, according to London\u2019s Metropolitan Police.<\/p>\n Robinson\u2019s march was billed as a demonstration in support of free speech, but much of the rhetoric seemed to be based around division, with the EDL co-founder pumping up the crowd with claims such as \u201cBritish public, the people that built this nation.\u201d<\/p>\n The \u2018Unite the Kingdom\u2019 march comes at a pivotal moment for the country. Several anti-immigration protests have taken place in recent months, stoking nationalist and racist tensions. The flags of England, Scotland, and Wales have been hung out across UK towns and cities, with many seeing it as a warning to migrants and politicians.<\/p>\n Love Music?<\/p>\n Get your daily dose of everything happening in Australian\/New Zealand music and globally.<\/p>\n If this was a march for free speech, much of the free speech on display was crude and vitriolic. \u201cKeir Starmer loves rent boys,\u201d one sign declared, defaming the current UK Prime Minister. References to slain US far-right activist and podcaster Charlie Kirk abounded, with a bagpiper even playing \u201cAmazing Grace\u201d for him following a moment of silence. Other signs featured slogans such as \u201cstop the boats,\u201d \u201csend them home,\u201d and \u201cenough is enough, save our children.\u201d<\/p>\n Trouble, however, bubbled under the surface of the ostensibly peaceful event.<\/p>\n As the rally stretched into the late afternoon yesterday, \u2018Unite the Kingdom\u2019 supporters threw items at counter protestors, according to police, with some even trying to break through barriers put up to separate the rival groups. Reinforcements with helmets and riot shields were deployed to support those on duty, and at least nine people were arrested due to the violence.<\/p>\n The \u2018Unite the Kingdom\u2019 rally may not unite Britain, but it did succeed in bringing together a motley group of far-right figures, including French politician \u00c9ric Zemmour (convicted for racial discrimination not once but twice), former actor Laurence Fox (legal issues include multiple libel lawsuits and an upskirt photo incident), former The Apprentice contestant Katie Hopkins (deported from Australia in 2021 after breaching COVID-19 health regulations) and Tesla CEO and X\/Twitter owner Elon Musk, wading into another country\u2019s politics<\/a> after US President Donald Trump tossed him from his inner circle.<\/p>\n Image: Laurence Fox (L), Kate Hopkins (C) and Tommy Robinson (R) attend the Unite The Kingdom rally Credit: Ben Montgomery\/Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s something beautiful about being British and what I see happening here is a destruction of Britain, initially a slow erosion, but rapidly increasing erosion of Britain with massive uncontrolled migration,\u201d Musk said via video, sporting a t-shirt referencing 1984 author George Orwell. (As the New Yorker noted<\/a> as far back as January, Musk has been persistently tweeting about British public life, weaponising hot-button national issues and even calling for the overthrow of Starmer\u2019s government.)<\/p>\n And Tamaki was there, too, posing beside Robinson and making outlandish claims.<\/p>\n \u201cLondon just witnessed the largest patriotic protest in living memory,\u201d a statement on Tamaki\u2019s official X\/Twitter account read<\/a>. \u201cOver 3 million people filled the streets in one of the most peaceful yet powerful protests the UK has ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n The statement explained that Tamaki and his cohorts, dubbed \u201cThe Remnant,\u201d travelled to the country at their own expense, \u201cbecause they knew the spiritual importance of being there.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhile NZ still struggles to recognise the national treasure they have in Brian Tamaki, the British had no hesitation\u2026 they gave honour where honour was due,\u201d the statement continued. (It\u2019s unclear if Tamaki wrote this himself.)<\/p>\n His group put on a Haka at the march, calling it a \u201cbattle cry that honoured Charlie Kirk and declared Christ to the nations.\u201d<\/p>\n Christ and Christianity cropped up again and again in Tamaki\u2019s statement: \u201c211 years ago, Britain brought the Gospel of Jesus Christ to New Zealand. Today, Brian Tamaki returned the favour, preaching Christ back to the United Kingdom. His message was crystal clear: our Commonwealth countries must return to our Christian roots.\u201d<\/p>\n Another one: \u201cFrom the steps of 10 Downing Street to within earshot of Buckingham Palace, the spiritual war was declared and Jesus Christ was proclaimed on one of the most powerful stages in modern history.\u201d<\/p>\n Tamaki\u2019s group\u2019s Haka proved controversial with his fellow Kiwis, with one person tweeting<\/a> \u201cthey do not represent M\u0101ori mainstream at all.\u201d<\/p>\n Nick Lowles, founder of UK anti-fascist advocacy group HOPE Not Hate, called out Tamaki\u2019s \u201cvile racism and bigotry,\u201d<\/a> revealing that Tamaki said \u201c[b]an any type of public expression in our Christian nation from other religions. Ban Halal, ban Burquas. Ban mosques, ban temples, ban shrines \u2013 we don\u2019t want those in our countries,\u201d in his speech.<\/p>\n \u201cSo much for Uniting the Kingdom,\u201d Lowles noted.<\/p>\n Perhaps the UK is where Tamaki\u2019s hate-fuelled rhetoric will thrive, because Aotearoa has long been aware of his tactics.<\/p>\n In response to his aforementioned Auckland march in June, New Zealand church leaders condemned Tamaki for trying to \u201cmagnify fear.\u201d Tamaki and his marchers wielded a large banner that read \u201cNZ\u2019s official religion: Christianity,\u201d but local church leaders weren\u2019t buying it, criticising Tamaki for using Christianity for his own gain.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople who are afraid are easier to control,\u201d Reverend Katie Marcar, a senior teaching fellow in biblical languages at the University of Otago, told the NZ Herald<\/a>. \u201cThis type of hype runs high on emotion and low on Christian values and teaching.\u201d<\/p>\n Tamaki loves a march but hates a colourful crossing, with his Destiny Church followers vandalising rainbow crossings in Gisborne and Auckland last year. Speaking to his congregation in Whanganui about the incidents, Tamaki openly claimed responsibility<\/a> for the Gisborne vandalisation.<\/p>\n \u201cI said to the boys, \u2018Get the paint out, we\u2019ll hit this.\u2019 I didn\u2019t expect we\u2019d get the reaction that we did when we painted it over \u2013 I think that\u2019s the record time that police have responded to any incident,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In a damning expos\u00e9 published just this week<\/a>, radio and television journalist John Campbell revealed the disdain some former members of Destiny Church have for Tamaki, highlighting the anger and hatred at the heart of his organisation.<\/p>\n One woman, calling herself Te Ahi Wairua (\u201cthe spiritual fire\u201d), told Campbell that Tamaki\u2019s Destiny Church is \u201ca place of lost souls. Lost souls thinking that this man is the way out.\u201d<\/p>\n This is who figures like Tamaki and Robinson prey on: lost souls. It\u2019s why Aotearoa always has to be vigilant, despite Tamaki\u2019s failings in the past.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat young child growing up with this, practising marching and chanting before they know what it means, is taking all of this in?\u201d Campbell concluded. \u201cThey tried to set fire to one of the flags and banners they were ripping up at the bottom of Queen St. But the flames didn\u2019t take. Still, they\u2019re out there, Brian Tamaki\u2019s army. They do as they\u2019re told. And they\u2019re carrying matches.\u201d<\/p>\n Australia is not immune to far-right protests similar to \u2018Unite the Kingdom\u2019. An August anti-immigration march<\/a>, which took place on a sacred Indigenous site in Melbourne, escalated into violence; four people were injured, with two reportedly hospitalised for severe head wounds.<\/p>\n The self-described neo-Nazi National Socialist Network (NSN) led chants of \u201cAustralia for the white man\u201d at the march, and the organisation\u2019s leader Thomas Sewell claimed it was about \u201cstopping immigration.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe rally was never about immigration but an excuse to parade white supremacist ideas in Australia,\u201d said Ilo Diaz from the Centre Against Racial Profiling.<\/p>\n Image: Thomas Sewell, leader of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Network, speaks at the \u2018March for Australia\u2019 rally Credit: Ye Myo Khant\/SOPA Images\/LightRocket via Getty Images<\/p>\n The facts counteract the purported meaning of the march.<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/spinner.gif\")
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