How can we stop them next time?
Sheffield Socialist Party members
Billed as a demonstration to ‘Reclaim our city from the far left’, UKIP’s march in Sheffield on 8 November was a flop. There was a little more than 100 supporters of far-right UKIP leader Nick Tenconi. They could not have marched, if it wasn’t for huge police protection.
UKIP are self-described “Christian nationalists”, with their flags and crosses used to intimidate asylum seekers at the Holiday Inn Express hotel, with their demand for ‘Mass deportations now’. However, at least 800 anti-racists from Sheffield mobilised to oppose them.
Small groups of anti-fascists did try to stop the UKIP march, but got pushed back by the very big police presence. The main anti-racist march could have attempted to block the route of the UKIP march, before we were kettled in the police’s designated area. This would have required agreed tactics on the day and more organised stewarding. These things must be considered for future demonstrations.
Most anti-racist protesters, many on their first such demo, felt empowered by our side’s numbers – twice that of our last protest – as well as the sight of a nervous-looking Tenconi being scuttled away by his security heavies and police.
This anti-racist protest will be built on by a Sheffield ‘Unity’ march on 22 November. As well as mobilising for future anti-racist counter-demos, Socialist Party members are arguing in the Your Party meetings for no-cuts budget commitments from prospective council election candidates, which would cut across the austerity and racist policies of Reform and Labour in the May elections.
