Prime Minister Keir Starmer says Britain would not tolerate people feeling intimidated “because of their background or the colour of their skin” after a large far-right protest was marked by battles with police.

In his first comments rally organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson and attended by up to 150,000 people, according to police, Starmer also condemned attacks on police officers.

The leader of the centre-left Labour government, who was the target of persistent criticism at the rally, added “Britain is a nation proudly built on tolerance, diversity and respect”.

London’s Metropolitan Police said it had so far arrested 24 people after officers faced “unacceptable violence” trying to control up to 150,000 people at the event.

That was two fewer arrests than the force last reported, after discovering what it called “two duplicate records”.

Twenty-six police were injured, four seriously, in clashes on the fringes of Robinson’s “Unite the Kingdom” rally.