Thousands of protesters have joined a Women’s March in London as part of an international campaign on the first full day of Donald Trump’s presidency.
The rally is among events in the UK and elsewhere planned in solidarity with a march in US capital Washington DC that is expected to draw 200,000 people.
Organisers aim to highlight women’s rights, which they perceive to be under threat from the new US administration.
Presenter Sandi Toksvig and Labour MP Yvette Cooper are to speak in London.
Demonstrators are marching from the US embassy, in London’s Grosvenor Square, to Trafalgar Square for a rally.
Protests are also taking place in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol and Shipley.
A protest against Mr Trump also took place at London’s US embassy on Friday night.
Singer Lily Allen joined demonstrators, local politicians and trades unionists outside the building to highlight concerns raised by his election campaign on issues including nuclear weapons, climate change and immigration.
Cherry Wilson, BBC News
“Girls just wanna have fundamental rights”, “Women won’t be trumped” and “Burn bras not bridges”, are some of the message being sent to Donald Trump from the UK.
Women – and men – of all ages, many holding placards, have come to stand up for women’s rights and protest against what they see as an attack on equality.
It is a family affair spanning generations, with parents carrying their babies and holding hands with teenage children.
“Those who shout the loudest are often the most heard,” an organiser, opening the event, told the crowd.
A group of female teenagers took to the stage to speak about what angers them.
“Aleppo, violence, racial shootings in America, far right politics, rape, tampon taxes,” they cried one by one.
Protests also happened in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester as Mr Trump was being sworn in as the 45th US president.
Cherry Wilson, BBC News
“Girls just wanna have fundamental rights”, “Women won’t be trumped” and “Burn bras not bridges”, are some of the message being sent to Donald Trump from the UK.
Women – and men – of all ages, many holding placards, have come to stand up for women’s rights and protest against what they see as an attack on equality.
It is a family affair spanning generations, with parents carrying their babies and holding hands with teenage children.
“Those who shout the loudest are often the most heard,” an organiser, opening the event, told the crowd.
A group of female teenagers took to the stage to speak about what angers them.
“Aleppo, violence, racial shootings in America, far right politics, rape, tampon taxes,” they cried one by one.
‘Frank’ talks
The London march has attracted celebrity support on social media from Toksvig, Alexa Chung, Charlotte Church, Pixie Geldof, Bianca Jagger, June Sarpong and Ian McKellen, among others.
Almost 700 so-called sister marches are planned on Saturday across the globe. Protests by women have already taken place in Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
The largest demonstration so far has been in Sydney, Australia, where more than 3,000 protesters carrying placards with anti-Trump slogans took to the streets before gathering in the city’s Hyde Park.
Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Theresa May has congratulated President Trump on taking office, saying “we are both committed to advancing the special relationship between our two countries and working together for the prosperity and security of people on both sides of the Atlantic”.
But in an interview with the Financial Times, the prime minister said she would have “very frank” talks with the new president on issues where their opinions appear to differ, such as the future of Nato.
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the UK will work “hand in glove” with Mr Trump’s administration “for the stability, the prosperity and the security of the world”.
But former Labour leader Ed Miliband tweeted: “Feared the reality of today would be worse than the anticipation and it is”.
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said he missed watching the swearing-in ceremony, tweeting a picture of himself delivering campaign leaflets, and the message: “Apparently there’s something on telly, but I found something better to do instead…”
Source: BBC
