WOMEN’S marches were held in more than 20 towns and cities across Britain over the weekend ahead of Donald Trump’s second inauguration as United States president.

The protests were organised by UK Women’s March, which was formed in November to campaign against misogyny, advocate for women’s rights and “ensure that all women, regardless of their background, have their voices heard and rights respected.”

Protesters gathered in London, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Liverpool, Brighton, Cambridge, Canterbury, Exeter, Glasgow, Leeds, Lincoln, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Northampton, Nottingham, Plymouth, Sheffield and Belfast on Saturday. 

In Sheffield, South Yorkshire, speakers included Chris Peace of the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign, who told how women in Britain’s coalmining communities were empowered during the 1984-5 miners’ strike, mobilising the Women Against Pit Closures movement.

More protests are planned for tomorrow as Mr Trump is sworn in, including a rally at 5pm in Whitehall, opposite Downing Street.  

The rally is being supported by Together Against Trump, a coalition of organisations including Stand Up to Racism (SutR), Friends of the Earth, Stop Trump Coalition UK, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Abortion Rights, Stop the War Coalition, Campaign Against Climate Change and Keep the NHS Public.    

SutR co-convener Sabby Dhalu said: “Trump escalated the rhetoric, used dehumanising, white-supremacist and violent language during the most racist presidential election campaign in living memory, pledging mass deportations of migrants and refugees.

“Racism and hatred at the top leads to racism and hatred on the ground, this was evident during the election campaign.

“We remember the racist violence that occurred during Trump’s first presidency. The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Heather Heyer, an anti-semitic terrorist attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue and a rise in Islamophobic hate crimes.”

“Our movement must be braced for the racist onslaught that is set to be unleashed by the next Trump presidency that will embolden the far right and racists in the US and across the globe.

“In Britain, this is particularly concerning following last summer’s racist riots and the rise of Tommy Robinson supporters and far-right street movements.”