POLICE used live facial recognition cameras for the first time at two rival protests yesterday — with wanted suspects and agitators arrested as they arrived for the demos. In total there were 43 arrests across the two marches in London — one a Unite the Kingdom rally organised by Tommy Robinson, the other a pro-Palestine demo. The mobile facial recognition tech was in place near King’s Cross and St Pancras railway stations — key transport hubs used by those attending the protests. Scotland Yard had vowed a “zero tolerance approach” to the whole day and said the cameras would check the profiles of passing people against a watchlist of suspects wanted for offences. The Home Office had banned 11 people described as “far-right agitators” from coming to the UK to attend the demonstrations. Right-wing figures claiming to have been barred included Polish politician Dominik Tarczynski, Belgian politician Filip Dewinter, anti-Islam commentator Valentina Gomez and Dutch activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek. READ MORE ON POLICE It was part of an “unprecedented” level of policing that had 4,000 officers on the streets to keep apart the opposing rallies, including 660 drafted in from outside the capital. The operation cost the Met £4.5million. An estimated 80,000 took part in the marches — which were held on the same day as the FA Cup Final at Wembley. As well as the 43 arrests — and 22 more at the football — four officers were assaulted and a further six were subjected to hate crime offences. Most read in The Irish Sun In response to the number of arrests, the Met said: “While this may seem high, to this point both protests have proceeded largely without significant incident.” Police helicopters and drones monitored the crowds to ensure both factions were kept apart. The Unite the Kingdom march