Londoner's Diary: Rachel Johnson marches against Trump ban

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31 January 2017

THE Londoner slipped a winter coat over our usual evening dress last night and joined the many thousands who marched on Downing Street to protest against Donald Trump’s travel ban — and stumbled across quite a party. We spotted Blackadder actor Tony Robinson hovering on the periphery. “I am here because I want to be counted,” he shrugged, before conceding he had to run home to do some child care. Robert Peston was there, glued to his mobile phone, and we did a double-take when we saw our pal Rachel Johnson in the melee.

“What’s she doing here?” a protester nearby muttered.

“She’s a journalist,” his friend replied.

“Hmm, don’t tell her brother.”

The Londoner checked in with her this morning. “I’m descended from Muslim and Jewish immigrants on both sides,” she told us. “It was simple — I wanted to show my support for the rights of refugees and my opposition to Mr Trump.”

Models Jack Guinness and Suki Waterhouse represented the glam squad.“We will not stand aside while bigotry is validated,” Waterhouse wrote on Instagram, while actress Rebecca Hall explained her motivation on Twitter. “My grandma was Dutch, grandpa African-American. My godfather Persian, godson Muslim, husband part-Jewish,” Hall wrote. “Me: English-born, US resident. And my father was English. And yes, it’s time I went on that TV show where they do your ancestry.”

For all of today's diary click here.

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