Tens of thousands of people are estimated to have attended a pro-Palestine rally in London on the same day as a protest organised by Tommy Robinson in the capital.

Armoured vehicles, police horses, dogs, drones and helicopters were deployed along with about 4,000 officers on duty to avoid clashes between Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom march and the pro-Palestine rally. A total of 43 arrests were made at both marches, police said.

A large group of protesters carrying banners and placards reading “Bristol stands with Palestine”, “Stop Trump, Stop Farage”, and “Free Palestinian Hostages” gathered with many wearing keffiyehs while one demonstrator carried a St George’s Cross that bore the words “have a heart”.

Organisers of the pro-Palestine rally, which began in South Kensington before heading to Waterloo Place, said at least a quarter of a million people attended, while the police previously estimated 30,000 would attend.

The MP Diane Abbott was among the attenders and told demonstrators that those gathered faced a “common enemy” in the “far right”.

She added: “They are viciously rightwing, viciously racist, they are anti-black, anti-Muslim and viciously antisemitic. We have to come together … to fight the racists, to fight the fascists, to fight the antisemites.”

The Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told demonstrators in Pall Mall that Westminster needed a change in policy, not “personalities”.