Billy Jones, Gloucestershire Socialist Party
Two days before, it came to our attention there was a far-right demonstration organised for 8 February in Cheltenham.
Despite having only two days to prepare, the Socialist Party put out the call to organise a counter-protest, planning to meet where their march was supposed to start. The Unite the Union community branch for Bristol, Bath, and Gloucestershire passed a motion in support of this.
Over 50 people gathered for our anti-racist protest, including representatives from Unite, Unison, NEU, UCU, and Usdaw unions. We made our stand, selling the Socialist paper, fighting against the racist and xenophobic rhetoric.
There is anger among working people. And we agree that Britain is a country in crisis. But it is a crisis caused by capitalism, not immigration.
What’s the reason you can’t buy a house? It’s because the government refuses to build affordable housing.
What’s the reason NHS waiting lists are so long? It’s because the NHS is being sold off to the highest bidder by a government more interested in profit than saving lives.
What’s the reason you have no money for food? It’s because wealth is being concentrated into the hands of the rich elite.
We stood strong, letting the far right know we won’t allow divisive rhetoric to fester in our streets. Clearly this had an effect, because by the time their event was due to start, they had decided not to march after all. The most they could do was throw some insulting comments towards us and scamper off.
Our success proves once again that through working-class organisation we can fight against this rhetoric designed to divide the working class, and distract us from the real enemy – the ruling class, who can only exist as long as they exploit us.
