Huge crowds in London protest against Brexit and Donald Trump 'anti-migrant hysteria'

Pic:Large crowds gathered in London
Staff reporter(wp/es):

Huge crowds of protesters gathered to march through the streets of London on Saturday in a demonstration against racism.

Protesters carrying brightly coloured placards gathered outside the BBC offices in Portland Place, near Oxford Street, shortly after noon on Saturday.

Organisers Stand Up to Racism said the march was to combat "anti-migrant hysteria" following the Brexit vote.

Many of those taking part also clutched placards slamming Donald Trump for his immigration ban, while others featured the "Black Lives Matter" slogan.

Crowds gathered at Portland Place before heading off into Westminster holding aloft banners and chanting.

They headed towards Parliament Square, where guest speakers including former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Mozzam Begg and shadow attorney general Shami Chakrabarti wee set to address the crowd.

The event  saw protesters of all ages take to the streets, with children scrawling "Stand up to racism" on the pavements in coloured chalk.

Ether Onatskaia, 17, a Cambridge sixth form student who is originally from New York, said: "I think racism is a problem in the US and UK and we need to speak out against it.

"I feel like, because I'm white, I'm not so affected by it, so I need to make a stand."

Gerry Ford, 61, from Islington, who carried a placard through Piccadilly Circus, said she believed the decision to break from the European Union had been driven by racism.

She said: "This is a racist issue. People don't realise it, but it is."

Ms Ford said she believed Britain should start amending its approach to migrants by agreeing to take on more child refugees from Syria.

She added: "First of all, I'd like to let the refugee children through - more children from Syria - and we want to oppose Donald Trump.

"He's just disgusting."

As the crowds began the march down Regent Street, small groups led the chant "Say it loud and say it clear, refugees are welcome here", while drumming groups beat out a rhythm behind them.

The march comes after a series of demonstrations against hatred of migrants and the presidency of Donald Trump in February.

Saturday's march was echoed elsewhere, with rallies also taking palce in Cardiff and Glasgow, co-inciding with UN Anti-Racism Day.

Murder detectives investigate as one-year-old boy dies and girl fights for life after being injured at flat

Staff reporter(wp/es):

A one-year-old boy has died and a girl also aged one is fighting for life in hospital after they were found injured at a flat in Finsbury Park.

Murder detectives are investigating after the two children were found by police with critical injuries at a flat in Wilberforce Road.

Scotland Yard said officers and paramedics were alerted to the incident at 11.10pm on Saturday.

Neighbours said a woman was heard frantically shouting for help.

Medics rushed the injured children, believed to be twins, to a hospital in east London.

The boy was pronounced dead shortly before 1am in hospital, while the girl remains there in a critical condition.

A major police search is under way for a potential suspect.

On Sunday morning, a police car was parked outside a white three-storey building where the children are believed to have been injured.

A police car was parked outside the white three-storey building where the children are believed to have been injured.

Police officers were visiting and searching properties along the tree-lined street.

A woman living opposite the building, who gave her name as Gui Gui, said she heard a woman shouting late last night and opened the window to offer help.

"I was watching TV," she said. "I heard someone was shouting. She kept on shouting. I do not know what she was shouting.

"I opened the window and I asked her 'Can I help you, can I call the police for you?' She said, 'My kids'."

The neighbour said she later saw two young children being carried out of the building, with one being held very close to a member of the emergency services.

Mihai Menea, 29, who lives on the second floor of the building, said the children were twins.

They lived on the top floor with their Romanian mother and Indian father, he said.

The father worked at the nearby Pembury Hotel as a receptionist, where Mr Menea also works, until a few days ago, he said.

Mr Menea described the mood inside the property as "tense".

"It's really tense," he said. "There's police coming and going all the time."

Detectives from the Homicide and Major Crime Comman are investigating. 

Police have not yet released details of how the children may have sustained their injuries. 

A Met Police spokesman said: “Next of kin are aware. Formal identification awaits and a post-mortem examination will be scheduled in due course.”

He added that enquiries were underway to “establish the full circumstances of the incident” and said that no arrests have been made.

A National Police Air Service helicopter was assisting Hackney officers with a search of the Finsbury Park area in the early hours of Sunday morning.

A spokesman said they were "assisting officers from Hackney after two children were found seriously injured at an address in Wilberforce Road."