Nigel Farage’s nationwide tour culminates on 28 March in Birmingham, one of the most diverse cities in Britain. This marks Reform UK’s biggest-ever campaign launch, ahead of the May council elections.
The choice to host Farage’s grand finale in Birmingham – where over half of residents identify as ethnic minorities – is clearly an act of provocation by a party that relies on divisive rhetoric.
At the same time, Farage and Reform also hope to tap into the anger against Starmer’s government that is brewing in one of Labour’s biggest strongholds.
Labour, which has long controlled Birmingham City Council, is facing a political reckoning.
The council’s mammoth bankruptcy in 2023 led to the largest local authority cuts in history, with a £400 million austerity package that has severely impacted social care, mental health services, libraries, and youth centers.
A 17.5 percent council tax increase over two years has further deepened the hardship for working-class households.
These draconian measures, alongside Starmer’s wider austerity and militarism programme, have fuelled a sense of betrayal amongst ordinary voters, in Birmingham and across the country.
Reform demagogically feeds on this discontent – cynically presenting itself as an anti-establishment party by voicing the frustrations and feelings in many working-class, ‘left behind’ communities that ‘Britain is broken’.
Farage’s opportunistic strategy could well pay off. Three of Labour’s eight MPs in Birmingham are currently projected to lose their seats to Reform. Across the wider West Midlands, the party is forecast to snatch 12 seats from Labour.
Root of the problem
For many workers and youth, the rising support for Farage and Reform has generated understandable fears and concerns. Growing layers are looking for a way forward; for a fightback against racism and reaction.
To prescribe a cure, however, we must first provide an accurate diagnosis of the disease.
This means addressing the real issues that are pushing people towards Reform: the social decay arising from decades of decline and years of austerity, under successive big business governments – both Tory and Labour.
In Birmingham, as elsewhere, living standards have collapsed. Half of the city’s children live in poverty. Vast swathes of the population reside in some of the country’s most deprived areas.
Starmer offers no alternative to this bleak picture. In fact, since coming to power, the Labour leaders have fallen over themselves to prove that they will reliably serve the interests of the billionaires, bankers, and bosses; that they are a party of imperialism and brutal cuts.
A counter-protest against Farage has been called in Birmingham. This should be the starting point for a mass campaign to unite workers and youth against all the liars, warmongers, and racists in Westminster.
Above all, what is required is a bold socialist programme of class-based demands to challenge the entire capitalist system that is driving this neverending crisis.
Liberal calls to ‘protect democracy’ only play into the hands of Starmer and the establishment – the very ladies and gentlemen who are wielding the knife and attacking workers, the poor, and the vulnerable.
Starmer and Labour defend the rotten status quo. Farage and the Tories blame migrants. But the real enemy arrives by limousine, not on small boats. Workers are suffering while the rich thrive.
We, the communists of the RCP, say that the real root of our problems is capitalism. Join us in the fight for revolution!
Birmingham: Austerity, anger, and militant action
Mental health services
HL
Council teams managing mental health services for 18-25 year-olds and 0-18’s have been merged, in a cost-cutting measure that has absurdly been described as “innovative” and an “international first”.
These cuts have drastically reduced the availability of these services, making essential – and often life-saving – care even harder to access.
Birmingham’s mental health services are largely inaccessible, especially for long-term care. Emergency support remains overwhelmingly reactive, often stepping in only at the last moment.
At a time when the NHS is supporting more children and young people with mental health problems than ever, these cuts are a recipe for disaster.
Birmingham bin strikes
Louis
Since 11 January, Birmingham’s bin workers have been on strike against attacks on their pay and conditions.
What began as a series of intermittent strikes has escalated into an all-out, indefinite walkout, with workers actively blocking scabs from leaving refuse centers. This had led to the police being deployed as strikebreakers.
The irony is glaring. Birmingham commissioner Max Caller and his team of austerity enforcers – parachuted in by the Tories – remain unaffected by the growing piles of rubbish, safely tucked away in their swanky homes in London.
The media has launched a relentless propaganda campaign, vilifying workers simply for defending their livelihoods. But no amount of spin can change the reality: this is a fight against austerity, and it deserves the full solidarity of the whole labour movement.
West Midlands police kill innocent resident
Tim Coal
On 19 March, a police car struck and killed a 40-year-old man while responding to reports of someone carrying a knife. West Midlands Police announced the incident on social media, where it was met with outrage and demands for the officers’ removal.
Public anger toward the police is a healthy instinct. In the absence of a clear political programme, however, this energy will not be channelled effectively.
In 2023, for example, riots broke out in Ely, South Wales, following the deaths of two boys being chased by the police. There was a deep class resentment – but no meaningful change.
To turn this anger into real action, we need an organised movement that confronts both the violence of the police, and the wider system that they protect.
Emboldening the far right
Aliza
Two women were recently attacked by a man who deliberately unleashed his dog on them as they walked home from Birmingham Central Mosque.
This act of violence is not an isolated incident. Islamophobic hate crimes in the UK surged by 74 percent in 2024.
The rising attacks on mosques, Muslims, and black and brown communities are a direct consequence of the political establishment scapegoating migrants and minorities for crises caused by the capitalist system.
Last summer, mass action by workers and youth successfully drove the far right off the streets. However, this has not stopped racist thugs from resurfacing and unleashing sporadic acts of terror.
The safety of our communities cannot be entrusted to capitalist politicians or the police. We must rely on our own collective strength to fight back against both the far right and the political establishment.
BCU management prepares for cuts
Marie Spavin
The menace of university redundancies has now reached Birmingham City University.
The vice-chancellor has attempted to soften the blow with a ‘golden parachute’ of six months of wages for those who opt for voluntary redundancy. This has ignited a standoff between management and the UCU union.
I reached out to my student union for their stance on supporting affected workers. Their response was disappointing: “If any student-led action is planned, we would always want to know and support that.” In other words, they’ll back action – but don’t want to lead it!
The SU could learn from our comrades across the country who are standing in SU elections on a fighting programme to unite students and workers against the cuts.
Collapse in support for Labour
Jonathan Hancock
Birmingham has been a Labour stronghold for many years in both national and local government. However, the party’s regional dominance is beginning to crumble.
Both the West Midlands mayoral election and the general election have exposed the collapse in support for Labour, due to their backing for the genocidal war in Gaza.
Future prospects also look bleak for Labour, with both Starmer and the Birmingham City Council introducing austerity measures. These cuts are driving workers into further levels of poverty, pushing some towards demagogues like Farage.
Polls even suggest that three of Birmingham’s eight Labour MPs could lose their seats to Reform at the next election.
