At the anti-Trump rally in Westminster

There were no official printed banners, which allowed scope for every individual’s imagination. “Protect children not fascists” was at least direct, as was “Man baby go home” and “Dump Trump”. 

Others tried a bit too hard. “It’s not complicated it’s a fucking genocide and he’s complicit” felt a little too wordy, and I am still puzzled by the banner that said: “Donald Trump puts the milk in first”. Was it a comment on his gauche manners? Or a way of calling the president weak. Others seemed only tangentially connected with the main purpose of the occasion, holding signs that said: “Save Gaza” and “Stop arming Israel”.

But it was a middle aged lady from Guildford who walked off with the prize for the most obscure banner. “When governments lie down with dogs, we all end up needing” – and then there was a picture of a dog and the company logo of something called Bravecto, which she explained to me was a product which eliminated fleas. 

I only saw an officer troubled once. A tall man, dressed entirely in black, with a black mask tightly wrapped around his face so only his eyes were visible, carrying a black Backpack with a union jack on it, the only colour on his person, walked through the crowds, ostentatiously filming people and hoping they would challenge him. 

He told me he was a Youtuber running a channel called Auditing Britain, which turns out to be a series of very long and very paranoid videos in which he engages people – mostly people with dark skins – in conversations apparently designed to make them look angry. He explained about the union jack: “Look at those flags over there. My flag is the right flag. Their flag is the wrong flag.” If time lies heavy on you, you can find part of our conversation on the very long video he made of the occasion.

Suggested Reading

Trump is terrible, but this state visit is worth every penny of £15m

Jonty Bloom

The Stop Trump Coalition has no fewer than 51 organisations under its umbrella: from Fossil Free London to Abortion Rights; from Care for Calais to Grassroots for Europe; from the Campaign Against Climate Change to Southall Black Sisters. The main speaker was Jeremy Corbyn, who rehearsed all his criticisms of the Starmer government at considerable length. 

It was an easier afternoon than the police had been expecting, and the many officers there had little to do and seemed intent on smiling and ingratiating themselves with everyone, perhaps to make up for their colleagues in Windsor who had foolishly arrested the people who projected that image of Trump and Jeffrey Epstein onto the castle walls.

A familiar voice shouted my name, and turning I saw that scourge of top politicians, the political journalist Michael Crick. It was strange to see him on a demonstration without a camera. This was Crick in his own time, attending a demonstration like anyone else because he believed in it. 

“Where’s Max Hastings?” asked Michael. I’d missed it, but Michael typically hadn’t: the 79-year-old former Daily Telegraph editor had announced he would be there, the first time he’d been on a demonstration since protesting against the Vietnam war. We looked around for him. But you can never find anyone on demonstrations.

Hastings had remarked on the strange company he was keeping, rubbing shoulders with organisations like Extinction Rebellion. Michael and I lamented the mixed messaging, which may have put off many who are appalled by Trump.

“All of us ought to show how we feel about this appalling man who has become president,” Hastings said. “He has brought shame on the United States.” 

Francis Beckett’s latest play, Make England Great Again, opens at Upstairs at the Gatehouse in Highgate Village on September 30