CHANTS of “build bridges not walls” rose up as demonstrators marched their way through London to show solidarity with the women’s protests taking place across the globe.
Around 100,000 attended the demonstration in central London according to estimates by organisers, with TV presenter Sandi Toksvig addressing the crowds. London mayor Sadiq Khan and his wife Saadiya were also in attendance.
People of all ages and genders descended on the city holding a rainbow of placards with slogans such as "dump Trump", "reject hate, reclaim politics" and "no to racism, no to Trump".
Beginning at the American Embassy in London, the London Women's March made its way around the streets of the capital and to a rally in Trafalgar Square.
Actress Rebecca Hall, who starred in Iron Man 3, said she attended because she is half American and half English.
She described the inauguration of Donald Trump as a “confusing and sad day”, adding: “I was sad to see Obama leave...we do not know what the government is going to be like."
Labour MP Harriet Harman was joined on the march by friend and American-British playwright Bonnie Greer.
Referring to outgoing US president Barack Obama, Harman said: "It's just a shame they have a two-term limit, isn't it?"
Greer warned that Trump's presidency was "not a joke", adding: "This is for real and I think this march demonstrates that London understands that."
Valuska Andrews, who travelled to the London march from Edinburgh said: “It’s sending a message of solidarity. We want progressive politics and the truth. It's about people supporting each other."
Labour MP Yvette Cooper, who spoke at the rally, said: "When the most powerful man in the world says it's okay to sexually assault women because you are rich and powerful, we have to stand up and say no way."
She added: "I think this is a march for equality and action for the future. We don't want the clock being turned back on women's equality."
Marches also took place in a number of other UK cities including Manchester, Belfast, Liverpool and Cardiff, with thousands turning out.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here