Southampton anti-racist protest. Photo: Nick Chaffey
Southampton anti-racist protest. Photo: Nick Chaffey

Declan Clune, Southampton trades union council secretary and Socialist Party

400 anti-racist and anti-fascist activists successfully rallied and marched in the centre of Southampton to counter a mobilisation called by the new extreme-right leader of Ukip, Nick Tenconi.

Tenconi attempted to hold a meeting and rally inside a popular venue in Southampton in December. Local trade unionists and anti-racists responded by announcing a counter-demonstration, and contacted the venue.

‘Christmas party’

The venue had no idea about the details, as the booking had been made under the title ‘Christmas party’. Once the truth was known, they cancelled the event.

Suffering a blow to his campaign, Tenconi took to social media, calling Southampton a “cesspool”.

He announced his new rally and march for 25 January, to “take Southampton back from the far left”. Southampton Trades Union Council and others immediately started organising the counter-protest.

Tenconi managed to gather around 60 people. But when he addressed his crowd, shouting “Who here is from Southampton?” it was followed by silence. The anti-racist counter-protesters were from our city, showing that his call to mobilise Sotonians had been ignored.

‘Jobs, homes, and services for all’

Socialist Party members play a leading role in the local trades union council, and helped organise the day, with positive messages of ‘jobs, homes and services for all, not racism’. We were hugely successful in keeping everyone from many different organisations together through organised and effective stewarding to maintain a safe environment for everyone.

Following this, we are pushing for a campaign to tackle racism and fascism on a more permanent basis. An effective campaign to tackle racism cannot only involve mobilising in the face of threats like this.

A meeting has been arranged to follow up, where we will push forward this demand, and take it into the trade unions. There is a void that people like Tenconi are trying to occupy.

Socialist Party members are committed to a campaign to prevent this, and to push the Trades Union Congress to organise an anti-racist ‘jobs, homes, and services’ national demonstration.