Never has the Cenotaph, in its 103 years of standing sentry on Whitehall, been “defended” on Armistice Day by a Port Vale fan supping a can of Stella Artois.

“I’m here in case the jihadists get past the police, who’ll probably just let them through anyway,” said Ben Neale, 22, from Tunstall, Staffordshire. “If they do come, they’ll soon wish they hadn’t.”

As it transpired, it was some of his fellow football supporters, backed aggressively by elements of the far right, who broke violently through police lines, toppling over metal barricades, throwing missiles and temporarily forcing officers back as they surged towards the Cenotaph on the anniversary of the end of the first world war.

Many stated explicitly that they had travelled to Whitehall because of comments made by the home secretary, Suella Braverman, who, days earlier, had claimed that police treated football supporters – such as Neale – unfavourably compared to “politically connected minority groups”. “She’s the only one making any sense at the minute. We’re sleepwalking into a race war,” said a middle-aged man who said he was a Sunderland fan but did not want to be named. “Armistice is our day!” he added.