Hundreds gather in London for anti-racism demonstration

Hundreds of people have gathered in central London to march against racism amid debates about the place of migrants in Britain after exit from the European Union.

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

They are expected to march to Parliament Square, where guest speakers including former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Mozzam Begg and shadow attorney general Shami Chakrabarti will address the crowd.

The event, organised by campaign group Stand Up To Racism, saw protesters of all ages take to the streets, with children scrawling "Stand up to racism" on the pavements in coloured chalk.

Lindsey German, convenor of the Stop The War Coalition, drew boos from the crowd with a mention of former chancellor George Osborne, who was announced as the new editor of London newspaper the Evening Standard on Friday.

She criticised the paper's "vicious" campaign against Sadiq Khan in the London mayoral election last year, and said Mr Osborne should not take the job.

She said: "He is a disgrace, and he shouldn't be allowed to do this."