Dover – Tory and Labour cuts worsen problem
Callum Joyce, Southern and South East Socialist Party organiser
One hundred counter-demonstrators from all over Kent assembled in Dover to protest against a planned mobilisation by the far right. The far right failed to materialise!
The political crisis around immigration is particularly sharp in Dover and Kent, due to its proximity to the English Channel, where most of the ‘small boats’ cross over into Britain. It is also home to a number of migration centres, along with hotels used to house immigrants.
Unfortunately, the lower standard of living and lack of access to quality jobs and housing – especially in Dover, which is the most deprived area of the county – means that the scapegoating of immigrants is able to gain more traction. Despite this, Kent Tory council appears likely to implement more budget cuts to jobs and services – something that will only further inflame the situation.
At the anti-racist demonstration, we gave out our material calling for jobs, homes, and services for all to end racism, raising the need for a socialist alternative to end this rotten system that allows racist ideas to spread.
I was able to give a speech to the crowd. I explained that the blame for the growth of racist ideas lies with the bosses and their politicians, who have overseen years of austerity and wage stagnation, allowing a genuine anger to develop among working-class people that has been partially hijacked by the far right.
I called on the Trades Union Congress (TUC) to use its annual congress next month to launch a major campaign in every workplace and community against racism, and for the investment in services and infrastructure that we need.
I also explained that we cannot trust Labour to fight against racism, especially given Keir Starmer’s racist attacks against the Bangladeshi community in the run-up to the election. Instead, the trade union movement should stand its own candidates in elections, and build a new mass party with socialist policies to take the wealth off the super-rich, and invest it according to our needs instead.
Socialist Party members in Kent are standing in the county council elections next year, part of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC), to raise these ideas in opposition to the mainstream capitalist parties.
We will also be joining the National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) lobby of the TUC in Brighton on 8 September, to demand that the trade union leaders take up this fight as well, and build genuine working-class opposition to the divisive, racist ideas of the far right.
Bournemouth – ‘There’s a lot to be angry about’
Socialist Party member Ali Cook spoke at the Bournemouth protest:
“There’s a lot to be angry about. We’ve seen cuts to our public services, historic falls to our living standards, and billionaires are getting richer and richer. Whilst the riots have been terrible, many of the counter-protests were much greater in size.
“Rachel Reeves is continuing the austerity policies of the last 14 years of Tory rule. The longer we go without a voice for the working class, the louder and louder the right will get. What we need is a new mass workers’ party that seeks to overcome division, in favour of workers’ unity – that calls for homes, jobs, and services for all.
“We need mass council house building. We need to restore services and jobs. We need a £15-an-hour minimum wage. We need to ban zero-hour contracts. We need a party that will fight for these, and other socialist policies. We have a world to win.”
Onyx McGarvey, Dorset Socialist Party reports:
We made our way down for a counter-protest, against a proposed far-right presence. Many on the anti-racist protest appreciated our call for workers’ unity, and the need for a mass workers’ party, some taking our leaflet and buying our Socialist paper.
While 200 turning up for ‘stop the boats’ is an upsettingly high number, they were still very much outnumbered by 500 of us, as they have been throughout the country. The far right had mostly dissolved by 1pm, while the counter-protest remained strong.
Our energy felt uplifting and promising. There is a solid community of people who are fundamentally against the racist, anti-immigration rhetoric being spread. Our counter-protests will not back down.
