The Silent Majority Will Be Silent No Longer

The huge crowds gathered in London last Saturday, waving Union Jacks and St. George’s Crosses, had a clear message for the establishment: Brits are fed up.

The vast numbers that marched in London last Saturday had a lot to be fed up with. The Unite the Kingdom rally was organised by Tommy Robinson and featured speeches from other well-known right-wing figures, such as Katie Hopkins, Ben Habib, and even Elon Musk, who appeared via Zoom. The focus of the protest was broad—it stood against the spread of divisive identity politics, in favour of free speech, and in contrast to the hate-filled pro-Palestine protests that have plagued London—and, indeed, the entire UK—since 2023. Some speakers emphasised the importance of Christianity to British culture, and “Christ is King” was a popular chant. Everyone lamented the culture of national self-loathing that has contributed to this country’s stagnation and disintegration.  

Immigration was the undercurrent that ran through all of this. “We want our country back,” the protestors demanded. That can mean different things to different people. But, uncontroversially, it means putting an end to uncontrolled mass migration. 

For the mainstream media, one of the most challenging things to grapple with about the Unite the Kingdom rally is that its participants were so ordinary. This was not a march consisting primarily of football hooligans or neo-Nazis looking for trouble. Those types will always be present, of course, but last weekend’s march was so much more. People had travelled from across the country—people of all races, religions, and ages (including families). The protestors were normal, law-abiding people. As Reform UK leader Nigel Farage put it in a press conference today, the march was “a collective two fingers up to a British establishment that [voters] feel utterly betrayed by in every single way.”

There has been some debate about how many people actually attended the rally. The official police estimates put the crowd at somewhere between 110,000 and 150,000. The organisers claim it was more like three million. Regardless of the true number, what cannot be denied is how significant this protest was. As others have pointed out, ten years ago, a rally like this one would have been hailed as a great success if it managed to attract just a few thousand people. By comparison, the swelling crowds we saw on Saturday are the mark of something truly momentous. 

Similarly, even just a few years ago, talking critically about mass migration remained the domain of so-called far-right extremists. It was a complete taboo. Today, immigration is one of the top concerns for British voters, and the vast majority of people—including Labour and Liberal Democrat voters—support deporting migrants who commit crimes in the UK. Even our Labour prime minister was forced to admit there was a problem, lamenting that the UK had turned into an “island of strangers”—even if he later backtracked and said he regretted it. This summer, Brits have been making their anger known, protesting outside asylum hotels that have been placed, without consent, in their communities, and demanding that the government stop the flood of illegal migrants arriving in small boats across the channel. 

The cry of “we want our country back” can be heard all across Europe. Voters are dragging their leaders, kicking and screaming if necessary, to finally confront mass migration. Even if this is the bare minimum, it’s still heartening to see countries reimposing border controls and slowly giving up on Schengen. In July, 80 Polish cities were host to similar protests as the Unite the Kingdom rally, also demanding an end to what has effectively been a policy of open borders for the last decade. In Germany, Chancellor Friedrich Merz was forced to concede recently that the open-borders policy of his predecessor, Angela Merkel, had “obviously not succeeded.” Neither Germany nor any other country that facilitated a culture of welcoming refugees has been able to cope with the huge influx of low-earning newcomers from cultures unfathomably different from our own. Even Sweden, once a byword for multiculturalism, has been restricting migration, introducing policies that make it harder to gain citizenship and limiting the number of family members that can be brought along. In 2024, Sweden granted its lowest ever number of residence permits. 

This is not just a vocal minority that’s taking to the street, either. In the UK, recent polling shows Reform in a clear lead, suggesting that voters are more than ready for a government that cracks down on uncontrolled migration. Similarly, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has achieved unprecedented results lately. The populists are now the second-largest party in the Bundestag, and, in the polls, they have occasionally pulled into the lead. Most recently, last Sunday, the AfD managed to triple their previous results in the Nordrhein-Westfalen local elections, winning 14.5% of the vote. Mounting pressure from the right has forced the current coalition government to take a harsher stance on migration. Even if this is currently falling short of the mark, it’s still an encouraging start. The direction of travel is clear. 

This is why smearing the Unite the Kingdom rally and others like it as racist and extremist won’t work this time. This is a movement that is now far too big to dismiss or ignore. These are not bigots, but rather voters demanding the very basics of statehood. Border control is now undeniably the majority opinion. Sneering from elites in London, Berlin, Warsaw, or Brussels will not make this go away. If anything, it will only strengthen the voters’ resolve to punish them at the ballot box. For too long, we have been governed by extremists masquerading as ‘centrists.’ Now, finally, true common sense will prevail. The silent majority will be silent no longer.