In our editorials and perspectives – written before the turmoil of the last fortnight, and even before the recent general election – we stated that “the Starmer government will be a government of crisis”; that “this new Labour government will be riddled with crises from day one”; that “there will be no honeymoon period” for Starmer and his ministers.
Fast forward to today, and how prophetic these words now seem.
“Starmer honeymoon ends, as tax warnings and riots expose challenge” declared one recent headline in Bloomberg, a reliable mouthpiece of finance capital. “The end of Keir Starmer’s honeymoon,” announced liberal journal the New Statesman, commenting on the UK Prime Minister’s falling support in the polls since he moved into Number 10.
Citing a survey by Opinium, The Telegraph notes that Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves have seen their net approval ratings fall by 16 percent and 23 percent, respectively, since they moved into Downing Street. “Starmer’s honeymoon period is over,” the Tory paper asserts.
The Labour leaders’ brief time in office has been turbulent, to say the least. Starmer has only been in power for one month, and already he has suspended seven of his MPs for rebelling against austerity; seen his Welsh counterpart step down in disgrace; and discovered a £22 billion black hole in the country’s public finances, meaning further vicious cuts.
Over this same period, scenes of protest and disorder have played out on the streets of Britain: the riot in the deprived suburb of Harehills, Leeds; the demonstrations against police brutality in Manchester; and, most shockingly, the far–right rampages seen across the UK in the wake of the Southport stabbings.
This hardly paints the picture of stability that Starmer and Reeves are trying to project to big business and billionaire investors.
Instead, the deep crisis of British capitalism is plain for all to see. And with the world economy lurching towards a new slump, the conflict in the Middle East on the verge of escalating, this instability is only set to intensify.
Whip of counterrevolution
Karl Marx once noted that the “whip of counterrevolution” is sometimes needed to spur on the working class. And this has certainly been the case in Britain.
The horrific sight of pogroms against Muslim communities and migrants has given a huge jolt to the whole of society, acting as yet another hammer blow to shake up consciousness.
On the one side, these reactionary riots left the British establishment in a state of panic. They have spent years spewing out racism and stirring up hatred against asylum–seekers. And now, having sowed the wind, they are reaping the whirlwind.
We are here because the Tories, AND the Labour party spent the General Election trying to out compete each other in ‘stopping the boats’. They pandered to Farage, and we are suffering the consequences. https://t.co/E15H3nsuAQ
— Fiona Lali (@fiona_lali) August 8, 2024
On the other side, workers and youth have mobilised en masse in response to this far-right threat: physically shielding mosques and refugee-related targets, and driving the racists and fascists off the streets.
On 7 August, counter–protests of thousands took place in towns and cities up-and-down the country. And this was followed up by further anti-racist demos on Saturday 10 August (see below).
In most cases, the far-right thugs have been notable by their absence. Where they have turned up, their numbers have been so small that they have easily been crushed.
These are important victories, which are rightly being celebrated by all those looking to fight against racism and the far right.
Good news from Swansea – the far right has been turfed out, a handful of them came to castle square today but didn’t bother pulling flags and placards out and soon after left. Vastly outnumbered by hundreds of counter protesters and a few of us from Swansea RCP. pic.twitter.com/rNncRfzzoj
— Swansea Revolutionary Communist Party (@SwanseaRCP) August 11, 2024
Revolutionary programme
These mass mobilisations reveal the real balance of forces in society. In reality, the reactionary elements that have run-amok on Britain’s streets are little more than “human dust”, in the words of Leon Trotsky, and can easily be swept away by workers and youth through militant mass action.
This is the lesson of recent events, and of inspiring historic examples like the Battle of Cable Street.
Nevertheless, we cannot be complacent. 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 in the future.
Recent mobilisations must therefore be the beginning of a bigger, even stronger movement.
Many trade unions, along with campaigns such as Stand Up To Racism, have rightly called on activists to take to the streets. 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 and moralistically 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 at 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.
Fight racism! Fight capitalism! Join the RCP!
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
Newcastle
Comrades in the North East were out in force for the Stand Up To Racism (SUTR) demo on Saturday, with dozens of RCP activists joining the hundreds-strong protest.
The fascists were present, with maybe around 100 thugs at their peak. By comparison, the counter-demo saw a crowd of around 300-500.
Although speeches were in general quite soft and liberal, with some pro-Starmer supporters even joining the demo, class politics did cut through at times.
One speaker, for example, correctly said that “the real enemies are in the private jets and the super yachts”, not the small boats.
Scandalously, an activist from another revolutionary group was arrested. He started shouting on a megaphone, saying that Labour is a racist party, while a Labour councillor was making a speech. He was then manhandled out of the demonstration by one of the protest organisers (a self-proclaimed ‘socialist’, no less), and handed over to the police!
While the worst of these pogroms is likely over for now, thanks to the mighty mobilisations of working-class communities over the past week, this episode shows the limits of the current leadership of the anti-racist, anti-fascist movement.
We can have no trust in Starmer or the police to protect us. They are part of the problem, not the solution. Rather than collaborating with them, we must fight to overthrow the whole rotten system that they represent and defend.
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Liverpool
On Saturday, RCP comrades attended the counter-protest taking place at The Pier Head, Liverpool. There was a crowd of about 700, which gathered for about 90 minutes of speeches.
This mobilisation ensured that the far right weren’t going to be active in the area.
The speeches started with suspended local MP, Ian Byrne. Like others on the platform, he massively criticised the role that Tommy Robinson, Nigel Farage, Rishi Sunak, and the entire Tory Party play in whipping up hatred, which has emboldened these reactionary rioters.
What the official speakers failed to mention, however, is the role that ‘Sir’ Keir Starmer has played in stoking these rampages, by relentlessly competing with Sunak during the entirety of Labour’s election campaign to promise the cruellest immigration policies.
After the speeches, a small group of fascists (six at most) appeared, wrapped in Union Jacks. But the crowd quickly gathered around them until they left. Notably, the police helped to protect these far-right thugs.
Cambridge
On Saturday, comrades from across Cambridge attended an anti-fascist demo organised by SUTR, alongside a couple hundred from the local community.
Unfortunately, the organisers prevented us from speaking from the megaphone. Nevertheless, we still made sure to circulate amongst the crowd, starting discussions and raising our perspectives.
There were some acknowledgments from the speakers that the racial hatred we see today has been created by capitalism. But there was a clear lack of any real demands or strategy.
A small group began to chant ‘no justice, no peace’. After the demo, we approached this group, who said they were unhappy with the vagueness and timidity of the speeches. We explained the RCP’s strategy for beating the far right, which was enthusiastically welcomed.
It’s clear that the current leadership of the anti-fascist movement is not up to scratch. We need to reach out to radicalised layers who are dissatisfied – those who are looking for both an explanation and a militant strategy of mass action.
Crawley
On Friday 9 August, RCP comrades joined the counter-demonstration against a planned attack on refugee hotels in Crawley.
The lone fascist who bothered turning up – who did his best to personify British imperialism by draping himself in as many Union Jacks as he could find – was reduced to waving his flag-coloured phone case at us.
He was quickly surrounded by the hundreds of activists who came out, including local young Asians and Muslims who had organised their own defence, along with a large contingent of anti-fascists from South London and Brighton.
His every attempt to speak was drowned out by chants of “fascist scum off our streets”; “do you hear the fascists sing? I can’t hear a f*cking thing!”; and “let in every refugee, throw the fascists in the sea!”
In response to the thick cordon of police around him, and in spite of any fearmongering from organisers about sticking to “chants that won’t get you arrested”, the most radical layers sang: “If it wasn’t for the coppers, you’d be f*cked!”
In view of this spectacle, any other of his far-right ‘mates’ who rocked up either immediately fled, or were charged by the local youth on the lookout, forcing the police to apprehend them.
Starmer’s party, meanwhile, was of no help. “It is pathetic that our Labour councillor told us to stay at home,” one of the locals told us. “If it wasn’t for us organising ourselves the fascists would roam free!”
And indeed, in Crawley last Friday, the far right broke like a wavelet on a rock.
Barnsley
A counter-demonstration was held in Barnsley recently. Encouragingly, a decent number of around 50-60 people showed up. This is huge for Barnsley. The town has seen only a few protests in my lifetime.
We managed to get there early and take the town hall steps, which is where the far right had planned to position themselves. When the far right did appear, it looked to be a smaller crowd than ours. They had very little to say, and the little they did say couldn’t be heard over the various chants on our side.
Some of those on the right started an altercation with the police – exactly what happened was hard to see. It did seem a few individuals were escorted away. The far-right crowd dropped in numbers as soon as that happened.
The turnout on the anti-fascist side was very encouraging. And in speeches, people were very critical of the Labour government and capitalism as a whole.
It definitely felt as if people were looking for an alternative.
Northampton
Two comrades joined the counter demonstration that took place last week in Northampton, after the far right threatened local immigration solicitors. We could not miss the opportunity to stand up to these reactionary scum.
The intersection was absolutely packed with people. We were crowded tightly on the pavement, eager to be as close to the offices as possible – much to the distress of the riot officers.
It was a site to see – an inspiring example of a working-class community coming together. There was an impeccable sense of class unity between us, in the fight against these low-life fascists that have been violently terrorising Muslims and migrants over the last few weeks.
By the time when these thugs were meant to arrive, there was an anticlimax of sorts. They didn’t show up. This shows how to protect our neighbourhoods – through mass mobilisation.
