Mass rallies in Britain demand: ‘Stop the far right!’

By Kathy Durkin
August 21, 2024

Tens of thousands of anti-racists in cities and towns across England demonstrated against the ultraright on Aug.7, with signs reading: “Stand up to Racism! Stop the Far Right” and “Refugees are welcome here!” People also formed human shields to protect asylum centers, which far-right rallies had threatened. Another massive mobilization for a National Day of Protest took place Aug. 10.

In large cities and small towns on Aug. 7, people held prominent signs denouncing the fascist forces, denouncing Islamophobia and fascism and supporting migrant and Muslim peoples. Residents came out to defy far-right elements which, in 25 cities and towns, had targeted  immigrants and Muslims and threatened mosques, hotels housing migrants and legal and social service agencies that assist them. The racists torched cars and attacked emergency service facilities.

Following the tragic and brutal killing of three young children in Southport, England, at the end of July, ultraright websites falsely blamed an anonymous Muslim asylum seeker as the perpetrator. The racists used this deliberate misinformation to whip up a xenophobic rampage. A neo-fascist chat group on Telegram listed targets for its adherents to attack.

For years this racist hostility had been stoked by right-wing politicians, like MP Nigel Farage and his Reform UK Party (formerly UKIP), members of the Conservative Party like former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and those in the Labor Party who refuse to confront xenophobia. Also, Islamophobe Tommy Robinson has spread “poison” against immigrants, Muslims and other people of color. The far right has been growing more emboldened and was primed for violent actions.

Anti-racists push back fascists

As anti-racists pushed back the fascist mobilizations in Birmingham, Bristol, Brighton, many areas of London and in other cities, too, they prevented many of the planned anti-migrant attacks. Hundreds of people arranged themselves into a human chain in Liverpool to protect a church which hosts an immigration service center. Women there held banners that read “Nans [grandmothers] against Nazis.”

There were similar scenarios in Hackney and Walthamstow in east London and Finchley in the city’s northern area. Thousands of anti-fascists and community members gathered together holding signs reading “unite against hate.”

In Brighton, 500 anti-racists overwhelmed a few bigots outside a pro-immigrant law office, shouting, “Off our streets, Nazi scum.” Police protected the right-wingers. In Hampshire, anti-racists faced off against the rightists, chanting “Refugees are welcome here.”

By evening, there were few right-wingers at the targeted sites, but the pro-immigrant protesters stayed on the streets. Overall, the anti-racists far outnumbered the fascists, who held very small actions in six cities in England and Wales. In some locations, no racists showed up.

Thousands answer call to ‘Stand up to racism’ 

Tens of thousands of people answered the call for a National Day of Protest on Aug. 10, issued by Stand Up to Racism, to “Stop the far right.” Massive crowds assembled in London; Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland; Cardiff, Wales; Belfast in the north of Ireland; and in other cities and towns, totaling 50 rallies to beat back the right-wing attacks. Where the racists did turn up, the pro-immigrant forces outnumbered them.

Thousands of people took to the streets chanting pro-immigrant slogans on the way to Whitehall, site of some government buildings in London. Some 5,000 protesters assembled at Reform UK’s main office to denounce Farage’s promotion of racism, Islamophobia and xenophobia.

To the thousands of people amassed in Trafalgar Square in London, Samara Ali said in the final speech at the rally: “We feel like we have turned the tide. It’s a testament to our mobilization that they failed to come out. They would not have been stopped if it was not for our mobilization.” (Independent, Aug. 11)

In total, tens of thousands of anti-racists rallied in cities and towns across Britain, including English cities Cambridge, Exeter, Sheffield, Liverpool, Newcastle, Hastings, Oxford, Manchester and several sections of London. Banners and signs reading “No to racism!” “Refugees welcome” and “Stop the far right!” were carried by thousands of rally-goers in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

United Against Racism mobilized 15,000 people at an anti-racism rally in Belfast, where a popular chant was “When migrants’ rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”

‘We must push back racists, fascists’

Following the anti-racist demonstrations on Aug. 10, Sabby Dhalu, Stand Up To Racism co-convenor, said: “Across Britain people have said loudly and clearly that we reject racism, Islamophobia, anti-semitism and hatred. We will not stand by and allow racist, pogromist attacks on asylum-seekers, Muslim, African, Asian and Caribbean people.

“All these communities, alongside trade unions, anti-fascists and anti-racists united have stood up to racism and fascism. We have defeated fascist and racist movements before. We will defeat them again. But there’s no room for complacency. We’ve seen fascist riots for over a week. We will keep mobilizing until we push back these racist and fascist street thugs.” (Morning Star, Aug. 16)

Another co-convenor of the group, Wayman Bennett, remarked: “Today shows we can turn the tide against the far right and the racists. Up and down the country, people have come together, organized and marched to send a clear message: The far-right aren’t welcome. We won’t let them attack Muslims, migrants and refugees. Our message is one of hope, solidarity and unity.” He stressed that community members have to stop the far rightists, who are being “whipped up by Nigel Farage and [ultraright tech billionaire] Elon Musk.” (Independent, Aug. 11)

Anti-racist, pro-immigrant actions are being planned in many counties and towns in coming months. Rock Against Racism is planning a full schedule of concerts in cities where the ultraright is active. The Guardian notes that as this movement helped “turn the tide on the [ultraright] National Front in the 1970s,” anti-racists today are planning concerts in the cities and towns where anti-immigrant mobilizations have occurred this summer to push back the “growing influence of the far right in some parts of Britain.” (Aug.18)

The musical group Love Music Hate Racism plans local performances around Britain in the next year. Samira Ali, an organizer of this group stressed: “We want to organize these gigs in the places the far right see as their territory, because we want to show they are in a tiny, hateful minority.” (Guardian, Aug. 18)

Love Music Hate Racism is planning actions to oppose the organized fascists on the streets as well as the anti-immigration right in parliament. The group calls for a “united cultural movement … to ward off the threat of the far right and strengthen communities damaged by the corrosive effects of racism.”

Ali emphasized: “But the context is even more dangerous than when Rock Against Racism was launched in the 1970s. Then, we faced the National Front but didn’t have [Farange’s Reform UK] in parliament. We didn’t have fascism on the rise through Europe in the same way and Donald Trump running for the presidency in the U.S.”