{"id":1944,"date":"2026-05-19T20:42:04","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T20:42:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/05\/19\/jd-vance-urges-uk-anti-immigration-activists-to-keep-on-going\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T20:42:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T20:42:04","slug":"jd-vance-urges-uk-anti-immigration-activists-to-keep-on-going","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=1944","title":{"rendered":"JD Vance urges UK anti-immigration activists to \u2018keep on going\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border);background-color:var(--article-inner-background)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"dcr-2zxs1v\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"10df533b-8a37-4c45-b0ac-782bad399bf9\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A man holds a 'SEND THEM HOME' sign and wooden crosses at a crowded rally with British flags\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/aeef7f2a2c35ef2bbe5d4f863fc6a6b7d98f26e5\/0_0_7951_5617\/master\/7951.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"328.50018865551505\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">JD Vance appeared to align himself with those who attended a London march on Saturday where the far-right activist Tommy Robinson told supporters to prepare for the \u2018battle of Britain\u2019.<\/span> Photograph: Martin Pope\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"10df533b-8a37-4c45-b0ac-782bad399bf9\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">JD Vance appeared to align himself with those who attended a London march on Saturday where the far-right activist Tommy Robinson told supporters to prepare for the \u2018battle of Britain\u2019.<\/span> Photograph: Martin Pope\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1aqe7zu\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">JD Vance urges UK anti-immigration activists to \u2018keep on going\u2019<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-15in7js\">\n<p>US vice-president appeared to align with attendees of Tommy Robinson\u2019s \u2018unite the kingdom\u2019 rally in London<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-kn9unn\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">US vice-president, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/jd-vance\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">JD Vance<\/a>, has urged anti-immigration activists in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/uk\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">UK<\/a> to \u201ckeep on going\u201d after tens of thousands <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/2026\/may\/16\/tommy-robinson-tells-tens-of-thousands-at-london-rally-to-prepare-for-battle-of-britain\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">gathered for a rally<\/a> in London.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Vance appeared to align himself with those who attended a march on Saturday where the far-right activist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/uk-news\/tommy-robinson\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Tommy Robinson<\/a> told supporters to prepare for the \u201cbattle of Britain\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Organisers claimed that millions had attended his \u201cunite the kingdom\u201d event, but police estimated the number of demonstrators to be far lower, at about 60,000. The campaign group Hope Not Hate nevertheless said the scale of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/2026\/may\/16\/tommy-robinson-tells-tens-of-thousands-at-london-rally-to-prepare-for-battle-of-britain\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Robinson\u2019s movement<\/a> remained \u201cdeeply worrying\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"efb436af-449c-4131-8959-ba7463a82c58\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-47fhrn\">\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-3 | 3\" data-component=\"rich-link\" data-name=\"placeholder\" class=\"dcr-1kyw41h\">\n<div data-format-theme=\"5\" data-format-design=\"0\" data-format-display=\"0\" class=\"dcr-1bg5532\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/2026\/may\/16\/tommy-robinson-tells-tens-of-thousands-at-london-rally-to-prepare-for-battle-of-britain\" class=\"dcr-1m887w9\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-ut4tvs\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1h5b6rb\">\n<div class=\"dcr-169d7yv\">Tommy Robinson tells tens of thousands at London rally to prepare for \u2018battle of Britain\u2019<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-eurq8n\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fkf7vq\">Read more<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Addressing reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Vance claimed that \u201call over the west\u201d there is \u201cthis idea that the way to generate prosperity is to bring in millions and millions of unvetted people and drop them into your neighborhoods\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cAnd we simply reject that idea,\u201d said the US vice-president. \u201cTo everybody in the UK who rejects that idea, I\u2019d encourage them to just keep on going. It\u2019s OK to want to defend your culture. It\u2019s OK to want to live in a safe neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"aaf02427-8fc4-4739-95d9-a04bb7802cc2\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-173mewl\">\n<div id=\"img-2\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A man speaking at a podium\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/b4ea4d8d5d71205d2e801328f9c7abfbc6a26b84\/0_0_3600_2401\/master\/3600.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"445\" height=\"296.79027777777776\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><a href=\"#img-2\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"aaf02427-8fc4-4739-95d9-a04bb7802cc2\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-fd61eq\"><span class=\"dcr-1inf02i\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">US vice-president, JD Vance, holds a press briefing at the White House on 19 May.<\/span> Photograph: Samuel Corum\/UPI\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">At Saturday\u2019s rally in London\u2019s Parliament Square, Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, claimed the event was \u201ca turning point for Britain\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Islamophobic and ethnonationalist hate speech and flyers were distributed to the crowds at the event, where nine people <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/uk-news\/2026\/may\/17\/arrests-unite-the-kingdom-rally-pro-palestine-march-london\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">were arrested<\/a> on suspicion of hate crimes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Vance framed his support on Tuesday in economic terms, arguing that mass immigration drives down wages and harms working people on both sides of the Atlantic \u2013 including, he claimed, lower-income Black and Hispanic Americans in the US.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Saturday\u2019s march was the latest in a series of Robinson-organized demonstrations. A rally in September drew <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/2025\/sep\/15\/who-were-the-key-figures-at-the-unite-the-kingdom-rally-in-london\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">up to 150,000 people<\/a> into the streets of London, where Elon Musk addressed the crowd by video link. The UK police are confident the latest event was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/uk-news\/2026\/may\/17\/arrests-unite-the-kingdom-rally-pro-palestine-march-london\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">less than half the size<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/keir-starmer\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Keir Starmer<\/a>, the UK prime minister, said ahead of this weekend\u2019s march that he supported the right to peaceful protest, but accused the organizers of peddling hatred and division. His government said it had blocked entry visas for foreign far-right figures who had sought to attend.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"eec052d3-b9c3-42f3-91df-600aea82807d\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-47fhrn\">\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-12 | 12\" data-component=\"rich-link\" data-name=\"placeholder\" class=\"dcr-1kyw41h\">\n<div data-format-theme=\"5\" data-format-design=\"0\" data-format-display=\"0\" class=\"dcr-1bg5532\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/uk-news\/2026\/may\/17\/arrests-unite-the-kingdom-rally-pro-palestine-march-london\" class=\"dcr-1m887w9\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-ut4tvs\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1h5b6rb\">\n<div class=\"dcr-169d7yv\">Police arrest 43 at \u2018unite the kingdom\u2019 and pro-Palestine marches in London<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-eurq8n\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fkf7vq\">Read more<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Robinson has been a key figure in British far-right politics for more than a decade, and has now seeped into the American rightwing influencer ecosystem.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">He co-founded the English Defence League in 2009 and has since built a string of criminal convictions, including mortgage fraud, assault and repeated contempt of court charges for filming defendants in active criminal trials. The most recent sent him to prison in 2024.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Earlier this year, the UK home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/uk-news\/2026\/mar\/01\/shabana-mahmood-to-limit-refugees-to-30-months-in-uk\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">ripped up the government\u2019s asylum rules<\/a> so that newly recognized refugees will receive just 30 months of temporary protection rather than the previous five years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The EU will also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.consilium.europa.eu\/en\/press\/press-releases\/2025\/12\/08\/migration-and-asylum-member-states-agree-on-solidarity-pool\/#:~:text=Background,migratory%20situation%20in%20member%20states.\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">fully adopt<\/a> a sweeping new pact on migration and asylum next month, overhauling how the bloc screens, processes and shares responsibility for asylum seekers at its external borders.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1rrvs2w\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-news\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">US news<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/world\/far-right\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">The far right<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/jd-vance\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">JD Vance<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/uk\/london\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">London<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/uk-news\/tommy-robinson\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Tommy Robinson<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=JD%20Vance%20urges%20UK%20anti-immigration%20activists%20to%20%E2%80%98keep%20on%20going%E2%80%99&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/19\/jd-vance-uk-anti-immigration-rally-comments?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fmay%2F19%2Fjd-vance-uk-anti-immigration-rally-comments&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/may\/19\/jd-vance-uk-anti-immigration-rally-comments\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:right-column\" data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1h2hraq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tn16h9\">\n<section class=\"dcr-1hko8ef\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>JD Vance appeared to align himself with those who attended a London march on Saturday where the far-right<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}