Tens of thousands of workers and youth mobilised across the country last night in response to the far-right menace that has tormented Muslim communities and migrants over the last 10 days.
The fascists and thugs, meanwhile, were nowhere to be seen. Where they did turn up, their numbers were so small that they were very quickly crushed.
This is a great victory, which is rightly being celebrated by all those looking to fight against racism and protect our neighbourhoods.
These mass mobilisations reveal the real balance of forces in society. In reality, the reactionary elements that have run-amok on Britain’s streets over the last week are little more than “human dust”, in Trotsky’s words, and can very easily be swept away by workers and young people through militant, mass action.
Sickeningly, the bourgeois media and establishment politicians are painting this as their victory. Right-wing rag the Daily Express declared on its frontpage this morning that “United Britain stands firm against thugs”. The Daily Mail celebrated that the “anti-hate marchers faced down the thugs”.
These are the same publications that have been stirring up anti-immigrant sentiment for years; that have condemned Palestine protests as “hate marches”; and that have been spouting the same “stop the boats” rhetoric as the fascist gangs that they are now ‘condemning’.
Sir Mark Rowley, the head of the Met Police, claimed that it was the police presence that scared off the far right yesterday. He has been joined by the usual chorus of cynical hacks and capitalist lackeys, who have praised the police and Keir Starmer for saving the day and ‘clamping down’ on racist rioters.
The hypocrisy stinks. The only thing the police did last night was protect the small groups of far right who did show up, when massive crowds threatened to swamp them.
Starmer and his cronies are just as complicit as the gutter press. Labour have been aping the Tories for years in their migrant-bashing rhetoric.
A central plank of Starmer’s election campaign was promising to ‘crack down’ on immigration, in particular singling out the Bangladeshi community for deportation.
And years before this, of course, there was the infamous ‘controls on migration’ mug that Labour produced for the 2015 election, in their bid to outflank the Tories from the right.
The blame doesn’t lie with this or that capitalist politician or newspaper, but with the entire rotten establishment, which has continually poured xenophobic bile into society.
Their apparent support for yesterday’s mass mobilisations is merely an attempt to sweep this whole situation under the rug; to extinguish the dangerous flames that they have fanned and stoked, but which have recently gotten out of control.
The ruling class and its representatives want to restore order as quickly as possible, to stabilise the situation for British capitalism and big business. Raging riots and pogroms don’t exactly send a reassuring message to billionaire investors.
The establishment can see the immense anger in British society, which is increasingly bursting to the surface, and are keen to derail it into safer channels.
We must respond to these false friends: how dare you claim this as your victory! How dare you praise working-class communities for mobilising, when you are the ones who continually attack them, with austerity and repression! How dare you cry crocodile tears about mosques and asylum-seekers being targeted by fascists, when you endlessly whip up racism and Islamophobia!
Yesterday’s victory is down solely to the mass mobilisation of workers and youth. That is the truth of the matter.
This success should give us all confidence, showing the power of the working class, when organised and mobilised.
Nevertheless, we cannot be complacent. Vigilance is necessary. The far-right threat has not gone away. Unless it is crushed completely, and its breeding ground eliminated, this reactionary menace will continue to flare up and rear its ugly head in the future.
Last night should therefore just be the beginning of a bigger, even stronger movement.
The left and the labour movement must put the call out to make this weekend’s counter-demos even larger, as a show of strength: not just against the far right, but also against the disgusting establishment, who would rather we quietly stayed home and left matters to them and the police.
Many trade unions, along with campaigns such as Stand Up To Racism, rightly called on activists to take to the streets last night. And the huge response reveals the real mood of militancy and determination amongst workers and youth.
This energy and momentum must now be maintained and directed. And this requires a clear, bold political programme and class perspective. We cannot afford to talk abstractly about “hope” and “love” vs “hate”, and so on. We need to tackle this problem at its root.
What is required is a revolutionary programme – aimed not only at smashing the fascists, but also overthrowing the entire racist establishment, along with the decrepit capitalist system that is responsible for creating the fertile soil of poverty and misery in which the far right and demagogues like Farage thrive.
Only then can the far-right threat and the poison of racism be eradicated once and for all.
Walthamstow
Around 10,000 took to the streets of Walthamstow last night to reclaim the streets from the fascist gangs, who were nowhere to be seen! This is despite the best efforts of Labour MP Stella Creasy, who told everyone to stay at home and leave it to the police.
The mood was one of total defiance, chants of “Where’s the EDL?”, “Stella Creasy, where are you?”, and “Nazi scum, off our streets” tore through the streets. Spirits were high, and it felt more like a festival than a rally at points.
Members of the RCP were swamped with workers and young people asking for interviews for TikTok and photos of our communist flags. Fiona Lali was interviewed by Novara Media, where she pointed the finger directly at the entire establishment for whipping up racist sentiment.
Novara Media spoke to demonstrators at last night’s huge mobilisation in Walthamstow. Here’s what @fiona_lali had to say. pic.twitter.com/bwH0nyzVqZ
— Novara Media (@novaramedia) August 8, 2024
The speeches and slogans that received the most support and applause were those that linked the question of racism to capitalism, and that called explicitly for revolution. Fiona was invited to speak by Health Workers for Palestine, which knows us through our work in the encampments, where she explained:
“The fascists prey on the inequality and the artificial scarcity that capitalism produces. How do we fight back? This scarcity is artificial. There is enough housing in the world, there are enough jobs, we have all the resources we need to house every single person, to clothe every single person, to give every single person healthcare. We have all of these resources, they’re just privately held, they have them in the City of London, the rich hold them!
The problem is not the small boats, it’s the big boats. We know that the wealth exists to provide for every single person, from London, to Dhaka, to Gaza a decent life.”
Palestine flags, Bangladesh flags at the huge antifascist counter demo in Walthamstow last night. 🥹☺️ The struggle against racism, fascism, and imperialism is the struggle against capitalism! There is only one solution – intifada, revolution! pic.twitter.com/tQei1KJ0NG
— Fiona Lali (@fiona_lali) August 8, 2024
This was greeted by waves of applause and cheers, followed by chants of “I believe in revolution, I believe that we will win”.
Fiona’s speech cut across the vague calls for “hope” and was greeted with by far the most enthusiastic response.
A Bangladeshi nurse overheard one of our comrades speaking and shouted “we need a socialist government!” She spoke about how sick she was of the billionaires whipping up the far-right, the crisis in hospitals, and that we in Britain should follow the example of the students in Bangladesh. She is coming along to the next meeting of the local RCP.
Through being the most revolutionary and militant group there, we were able to attract to our banner the most radical layers.
Harrow
On Wednesday the RCP in West London took part in a counter demonstration in Harrow outside a local immigration centre that was listed as a target on far-right group chats.
Over 250 activists and local community members turned up, loudly chanting slogans such as “Whose streets? Our streets!” and “Say it loud, say it clear: refugees are welcome here!”
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There was a mood of disgust over the recent pogroms, with one person telling us, “They claim to care about Britain but all they’ve done is attack people and destroy things.”
But there was also a mood of defiance. When asked whether they thought any of the fascists would actually be able to come out in force, several replied “No way, not in London. There’s too many of us.”
Our comrade Ravi was one of many speakers addressing the crowd. “I don’t see a fascist in sight. I don’t see a fascist in sight because of us!” he started, amidst cheers.
He went on to describe some of the historic struggles against racism and facism by working class communities, linking the re-emergence of the far-right with the current capitalist crisis – and the need for the organised masses to bring this system down in order to smash them.
Despite some chatter about small groups of racists lingering on the periphery, none showed up as planned. A militant yet celebratory mood erupted. “Where’s Tommy Robinson? He’s started all this but he’s hiding in Cyprus, he’s a coward!” commented one person.
It was evident that the mobilisation of activists and locals – along with the hundred-strong self-defence network the local south Asian community had organised – deterred the far-right from showing their faces in Harrow.
Lewisham
The RCP in South East London turned up in force at the Lewisham Stand Up to Racism rally. The workers and residents of Lewisham turned up long before the official organisers, giving us plenty of time to discuss with the protestors and balaclava-clad community defenders.
All of whom were extremely pleased to see the RCP in attendance, several asking to take pictures of us, our flags, and placards. About 250 were in attendance, along with members of the local Trade councils, RMT, and Greenwich UCU.
The initial speeches given by the organisers focused on themes of “love over hate”, and calls for peace. Some speakers openly thanked the mass police presence.
However, speakers from the local community were quick to reject this trust in the police, firmly stating time and again that the police and the state cannot be trusted to protect us from far-right thugs, only the workers and community can.
Lewisham locals were linking the rise of the reactionary far-right with the culture war fueled by Tories and Labour alike.
They blamed the media for equating the far-right hooligans with protestors, condemned Labour’s support of the Israeli war machine, and Starmer’s promises to stop the small boats. By the time our comrade got a chance to speak, many of our points had already been covered.
We were able to build upon these points and push in a revolutionary direction, to the applause of the crowd. Our programme struck a chord with the community, who still clearly remember the 1977 Battle of Lewisham.
We must connect this mood and memory, to reinforce the revolutionary conclusions workers and youth are coming to. Workers unite to smash the far-right!
Newcastle
At least 1,000 people came out against the fascists this evening in Newcastle… and they didn’t turn up.
There was a rumour that 50 fascists headed over but decided against it on realising the size of the counter mobilisation. One car did drive past with a Union Jack on the window and got mobbed by protestors very quickly.
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About 25 of us from the RCP attended the demo together. On our way to the demo someone shouted, “are you anti-fascist? Good on yas!” as we walked past.
The vast majority of the crowd was made up of workers and the Muslim community who were disgusted by what is happening. We can’t claim total victory for the working class against fascism, but it felt like a huge show of strength and solidarity.
We found the bulk of people we spoke to were very receptive to our ideas about fascism, how to fight it. and communism more generally, too.
One lady said we had some very lofty ambitions calling for revolution, but we pointed out how committees for self defence have already begun to be established among the Asian community.
With no trust in the police, the community is organising itself in Newcastle – and even those sceptical of revolution agreed there’s a lot of potential in that!
Lincoln
In Lincoln, roughly 200 gathered for the counter-demonstration at the local mosque over the course of the evening. Comrades came armed with flags, leaflets, and our programme, and got talking to the local community.
Very few fascists showed up, and those that did were immediately turned away by our numbers. Because of this the mood was one of celebration from the beginning, made greater by local food trucks and ice cream vans providing free food and drinks.
Notably, as locals (not dominated by any specific ethnicity) began arriving later in the evening (and the official ‘lefts’ trickled away) the mood began growing more angry and radical.
One local woman who ran a burger stand cried out exasperatedly about the total lack of real organisational leadership for those opposing the fascists, how Labour and unions were letting them down, and how amazing it was to see the local community come together to make a stand.
“We need more of this, but bigger, stronger, and more organised!” Upon us explaining that’s exactly what we were trying to assist with, she took our leaflets and said we need more people like you!
Norwich
Rumours were circulating yesterday that there was going to be a far-right protest outside the Brook Hotel on the outskirts of Norwich. The Norwich RCP mobilised for the counter demonstration.
In the end, the far-right didn’t turn up in any great numbers. The few who did were vastly outnumbered and so just kept their distance.
When one of our comrades got the chance to speak, we got a great response to explaining that the far-right feeds off the rotting capitalist system. The blame lies at the feet of those in parliament and the press who have deliberately whipped up racist rhetoric for years.
We spoke with many people in the crowd about what they thought about how to organise and what the next steps should be, as another possible mobilisation of the far-right is planned for Saturday.
We will be back again on Saturday to show the far-right’s reactionary bile is not welcome in Norwich, and that we’re organising to squash these fascists!
Bristol
Last night the RCP in Bristol joined over 2,000 people for the counter demo against the far-right.
The mood was tense throughout the day, with many shops boarding up their windows and an eerie silence falling over the streets.
When comrades arrived though, people were pouring in from every direction. This was a real show of force with several unions present alongside blocs of organised youth, and many more individuals who’d never even been to a demonstration before.
When comrades spoke to people on the demo, there was a mix of views as to the reason for this surge of the far-right, with some highlighting social media or a lack of education as primary reasons.
Many others though were correctly making the link between the anti-immigrant and racist rhetoric of the government, alongside years of austerity, deindustrialisation, and neglect.
In the end, the pathetic showing of far-right thugs that did turn out immediately turned around and left in the face of such a powerful mobilisation.
From there the rally descended into a celebration. A street party atmosphere took over, with music and chants of “Whose streets? Our streets” and “Nazi scum off our streets”.
This counter demonstration made clear, the only way to fight the far-right is not by trusting Starmer or the police to contain this menace, but by trusting in the strength of the working class and youth, organised and mobilised.
Sheffield
The far-right did not turn up last night in Sheffield. The counter demo, though, was massive – roughly 1,000 strong.
From the discussions we had amongst the crowd, it was clear everyone was enthused to have out-mobilised the far-right. There were split feelings about the presence of police still, apart from the self-defence groups who unanimously have no faith in the state at all.
As the RCP we were able to stand out by tying everything together and giving a political explanation to what is happening.
There is a huge appetite for political ideas and strategy. The question that seems to be sitting unanswered is what do we do to fight the far-right beyond counter demos. This came up time and time again.
We met with nine people who agreed with us about the need for a revolutionary programme and militant, class struggle methods in order to truly eradicate the far-right. We are planning on immediately hosting a meeting on this topic.
Brighton
Yesterday the Brighton branch intervened in the anti-fascist demonstration, where five far-right thugs were surrounded by a crowd of 500 half an hour before the official demo had even been called.
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Before long, the crowd reached 2,000. We spread out to speak with as many people as we could. We had printed out leaflets that linked the fight against fascism with the fight against capitalism, but quickly ran out.
The key takeaway from this demonstration for the work of the Brighton branch is that we are far too small – our main task is to grow the RCP off the back of this radical movement so that the threat of the far-right can be fully stamped out.
Birmingham
Workers marched shoulder to shoulder through the streets of Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter to declare “Fascists out of Brum”.
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The proud anti-fascist traditions of a city, where the ruling class attempted for over a century to spread racist hate, were reignited on Wednesday evening. Young Asian men organised themselves into defence groups whilst the unions came out and spread the campaign wide.
The bold response of the labour movement and the youth has meant that not a single right wing thug was sighted, despite their claims to a national mobilisation.
The immediate threat of the far-right appears subdued.
Yet as RCP speakers in the rally explained, the struggle does not end after pushing back against the far-right just once.
“The real enemy is the ones that are in Parliament, the war criminals in the government. […] They want to see us divided, they want to see us fight each other while they continue to employ austerity at the working class.”
Fascist weeds grow from soil fertilised by the divisive hate spread by both the Tories and Labour, representing a ruling class exhausting its justification to power. We need to organise to pull these weeds up from the root!
