Waltham Forest: a victory for working class unity

Sarah Sachs-Eldridge, Walthamstow Socialist Party

Waltham Forest, a north east London borough, saw a victory for working class unity against division on Saturday 30 July.

Rumours of a march by the divisive Muslims Against Crusades (MAC) and of a counter march by the racist English Defence League (EDL) prompted local activists to organise a more prominent campaigning event. Neither the EDL nor MAC offers any solution to the problems faced by working class people.

The MAC and EDL were due to come to the square at midday but the only groups who dared to enter the area in an organised way were those, such as the Waltham Forest Anti-Cuts Union, socialists, trade unionists and campaigners, who stand for unity of all working class people against the enormous cuts to jobs, services and living standards and against racism.

In the end it seems that a small group of MAC supporters managed an attempt at a march and that a few EDL members sat in a local pub - but their stated plans were certainly not carried through.

This was good preparation for the mass working class action that must be built to stop the racist EDL marching in Tower Hamlets, east London on 3 September.

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