For pay, jobs, homes and services – not racism
We need a new mass workers’ party
Fight for a socialist alternative
Socialist Party leaflet
Following the terrible murder and stabbings of children, racist far-right thugs have ‘protested’ and rioted in Southport, Hartlepool, at Downing Street and other places, attacking buildings and people, and are planning further actions in other towns.
These violent events, rejected by the enormous majority of people in all communities, follow the far-right Tommy Robinson’s national rally in Trafalgar Square on Saturday 27 July, attended by thousands. In the name of “Uniting the Kingdom”, racist and Islamophobic chants and speeches rang out.
Figures like Robinson attempt to feed off the anger of people driven down by poverty and the crisis in services and housing after 14 years of austerity. But at the core of the movement Robinson is trying to build are hardened racists and fascists. His rallies include football hooligans and others getting drunk and looking for a fight. The events of the last few days illustrate the danger these individuals pose.
Far from benefiting white workers, the division he tries to create among working-class people would make it easier for the bosses and their pro-capitalist political parties to rule, and drive all workers’ living standards even further into the dirt. He must be opposed.
But when figures like Tommy Robinson are able to mobilise so many in central London – and give confidence to a violent racist minority to go on the rampage – it is vitally important that we have an open and honest debate about how best to combat the far right.
Over previous years, when far-right groups have attempted to march through local communities, they have been met by counter-demonstrations, and frequently prevented from marching at all. This has been to prevent the risk that they would otherwise intimidate and threaten people in the community – a risk that has been demonstrated starkly in recent days.
Undoubtedly, many people in towns and communities now will want to stand together against this spate of far-right actions. Protests that mobilise the strength of the trade unions and local communities can demoralise far-right groupings and send them packing. Socialist Party members have been prominent in such local mobilisations, such as in Walthamstow, Leicester and other areas, that have successfully stopped the far right.
Unfortunately, the counter demonstration in central London on 27 July was a lot smaller than Tommy Robinson’s rally. Speakers at the counter-rally included Jeremy Corbyn and assistant general secretary of the RMT rail union Eddie Dempsey. Both rightly stated that it is not enough to just march against racists and fascists but it is necessary to fight on the issues that can breed support for those ideas. Eddie Dempsey said “we must fight on the class issues” of poverty, jobs, homes and services.
Keir Starmer’s Labour government is clear. It intends a continuation of austerity: an NHS crisis, a lack of affordable housing, huge cuts to council services, and poverty.
It is reported that the crowd in Trafalgar Square was asked who they voted for and overwhelming the answer was Reform. This is a warning of the danger of right-populist, racist forces stepping into the vacuum as anger with the Labour government grows.
The massive strike wave in 2022-23 showed the huge potential power of the working class to fill that vacuum with the fight for the pay, jobs, homes and services we all need. Standing up to racism is not separate from that.
Preparing a serious fight on these issues would also enable the trade unions to mobilise much bigger numbers when needed on anti-racist demonstrations, especially if the slogans of the demonstrations were clearly linked to those class issues.
Part of that should also be a serious approach to stewarding. On any counter-protest, local or national, people are bound to fear for their safety after watching what these thugs are doing.
The Socialist Party has long argued for proper stewarding, including calling on the unions to provide stewards. We welcomed the decision in 2018 of RMT members in London to start compiling a stewards list from their ranks, appealing to other unions to join it. That approach should be adopted again. Knowing that there is serious stewarding planned would give more people confidence to take part.
And the vote for Reform also is a warning of how vital it is to build a working-class political voice that fights for socialist policies. At the height of the rail and postal strikes in 2022, the leaders of the RMT rail union and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) launched Enough is Enough. Half a million people signed up instantly, many hoping this would be the beginning of a new political voice.
That was a lost opportunity then, but the challenge must be met now. A party based on the organised working class that fought for anti-racist, anti-war, socialist policies – for the pay, jobs, homes and services we all need – would undercut support for far-right groups and help to isolate the few violent individuals that want to build them.
