Editorial: Keir Starmer seems not to understand why people attended huge London patriotism rally

A gathering in Belfast to remember Charlie Kirk and a vast patriotic parade in London were held on Saturday.

The events were quite separate in a way but on related themes. The Belfast memorial was a display of horror at the murder of Mr Kirk, a young American conservative voice who defended western values. The London parade, called Unite The Kingdom, was a response to many issues, including mass immigration and the vast, regular Gaza marches in the UK capital.

The Belfast event took place in the heart of the city, and was peaceful. It was a fitting remembrance to a terrible killing, with many Christians in attendance due to the late Mr Kirk’s strong defence of the faith held by so many people in America and beyond. In London, the massive parade passed off largely peacefully in the context of 100,000+ people present, although there were some disgraceful assaults on police officers, which the prime minister rightly condemned.​

Sir Keir Starmer, however, otherwise responded in a typically tin-eared way to the London protest. He said: “Our flag represents our diverse country and we will never surrender it to those that use it as a symbol of violence, fear and division.”

That sounds fair, yet it completely overlooks the context of the parade. London’s streets have been surrendered to radicals, many of whom support Hamas, for week after week. Palestinian flags are flown while people who fly the national flag feel that they are often treated with suspicion. The Union flag has been removed.

Meanwhile millions of people have come into the UK, thousands of whom seem to be arriving with resentment towards their host culture. While Sir Keir’s predecessors are primarily to blame for this, they did at least realise their error towards the end of the long Tory government. His weakness has made things worse.