News
Two arrests, and two victory stories
— 4 mins read
Restore Britain says it was attacked again. Its opponents say they ran it out of Camden. The footage backs neither story in full.
Both sides walked away from Camden's pavements on Saturday claiming a win. Restore Britain says its canvassers were attacked for the second week running. Stand Up To Racism says it drove them out. The footage both sides posted supports considerably less than either caption claims.
The backdrop is the Holborn and St Pancras by-election on 8 October, triggered by Keir Starmer's resignation. Restore Britain, the party led by Great Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe, is fielding Tyler Johnson. The Telegraph has reported that Johnson works as legal counsel at CNOOC International, a Chinese state-linked energy firm. Stand Up To Racism, or SUTR, has organised a counter-presence against Restore's street work. Saturday was at least the second weekend of visible clashes.
What each side claims
Lowe posted four times between 9.56am and 10.54am. He said his team had been 'attacked again', that it had moved location, hired security and kept a lower profile, and that Johnson was 'harassed' with 'reports of more assaults'. He called the events 'a democratic outrage' and demanded SUTR be treated as a terrorist organisation.
SUTR posted that it 'drove Restore Britain off their streets of Camden' and 'ran the fascists out'. Its key clip, 21 seconds long, shows a man leaving on a green hire bike while police officers walk in the same direction.
What the footage actually shows
The circulating videos and stills show a mixed crowd on Camden pavements, many holding 'Refugees welcome / Stop the far right' placards. Restore canvassers with leaflets stand in or move through that crowd at close quarters. There is shouting, phones held up, and at least one professional camera. Some counter-protesters wear masks or scarves. Met officers and at least one marked van are on scene.
No clear punch or projectile is visible in the short clips reviewed. The police action on film is crowd management and walking after the departing cyclist, not arrests. Every claim of a specific assault, on either side, sits in the captions rather than the frames.
Two arrests, one from each side
The Metropolitan Police statement, reported by GB News, confirms two arrests. An 18-year-old canvasser on the Restore side was arrested on suspicion of assault and released with no further action. A 27-year-old protester on the SUTR side was arrested on suspicion of assault and remained in custody at the time of the statement.
SUTR named a Restore activist and claimed he 'punched three antiracists and was arrested'. No official statement names anyone or confirms three victims, and the clip attached to that claim shows no punch. The Daily Britain is not repeating the name.
Replies on both sides alleged two-tier policing, pointing to face coverings tolerated on one side. The coverings are visible. Differential enforcement is an inference, not something in the frames. The one hard fact is that officers arrested one person from each side.
Differential enforcement is an inference, not something in the frames. The one hard fact is that officers arrested one person from each side.
The week before, and the coffee dispute
The previous Saturday produced a confirmed incident: a woman was arrested for punching a Restore canvasser. It also produced a disputed one. Restore alleged canvasser Lewis Holmes was attacked with boiling liquid. The Met described a coffee spill after a hand struck a cup, with no visible injuries, and a fact-check found no independent confirmation of a deliberate attack. SUTR circulated footage it says shows Holmes spilling his own coffee. Holmes was back on the pavement on Saturday, visible in SUTR's own clips.
Who is nominating whom
SUTR has published an investigation citing Camden's official nomination papers. It says Patrick McGinnis, leader of the National Housing Party, is listed as Johnson's proposer, and that McGinnis appears in a video claiming 'Jewish ideas are destroying our country' and that the media is 'owned by Zionists'. SUTR and Searchlight also identify a former activist of the Homeland Party, which both describe as neo-Nazi, in Restore campaign photographs. Lowe has previously said he 'detests neo-Nazis'.
Polling day is 8 October. Two Saturdays of campaigning remain, and the Met says it is monitoring activity in the constituency. On the evidence so far, the cameras on both sides will be running.
