Stand Up To Racism is sounding the alarm.
The racist and fascist right in Britain are trying to regroup. A 4,000-strong rally in London on 6 May brought together fascist Tommy Robinson, the Democratic Football Lads Alliance (DFLA) and Ukip.
The loudest cheers went to Robinson, the former leader of the fascist English Defence League (EDL). After its demise Robinson was a peripheral figure, but he now clearly sees an opportunity to rebuild out of the ranks of the DFLA.
Old school Nazis, such as the National Front, were also on the demonstration. A group of fascists physically attacked the counter protest organised by Stand Up To Racism and Unite Against Fascism.
Two Muslim speakers who had been invited were assaulted and had to be escorted away by the police.
US alt right blogger Milo Yiannopoulos was flew to deliver a sexist, racist rant and young people wore Donald Trump “Make America Great Again” hats.
And, most dangerously, Robinson’s demonstration brought together the fascist and the racist Ukip party for the first time. The DFLA, which aims to build an Islamophobic street movement, is the bridge between the two.
They broke away from the “original” FLA after a fallout over money with founder John Meighan who has since resigned. After splitting they have increasingly worked with Ukip, organising protests in Telford and Rochdale.
Speaking at far right rally just days after Ukip’s local election wipeout, leader Gerrad Batten called on the hodgepodge of racists and fascists to join Ukip. He said: “If you want to defend your country then you have to organise politically,” he said.
“You can have a march of thousands of people like you’ve had today, there were marches before and did they change anything? No.
“I would like you to join Ukip.”
The Ukip leadership believe that a street movement can help them rebuild towards the electoral success they had in the past. And they see electoral breakthroughs by the racist and fascist right in Europe and the US as a model.
After all the success of the far Alternative for Germany (AfD) party was built on the growth of the Islamophobic Pegida street movement. It was led by 12 activists close to the AfD and brought together Ukip-types, racist street thugs and fascists.
The movement hardened up with the Nazis becoming more prominent. The same process has happened within the AfD, with some traditional conservatives resigning over the Nazis’ growing influence.
Around half of the AfD MPs—who broke into parliament last October—are open Nazis.
The AfD’s rise represented a general shift to right in German society. Conservative chancellor (prime minister) Angela Merkel making concessions to the right over immigration was a key factor behind this.
The “Hooligans Against Salafists” football group also fed into the growth of the far right movement in Germany. Robinson tried to use a similar strategy with the EDL—and the DFLA are trying the same trick now.
In Britain the Tory government is pushing through a racist assault to scapegoat Muslims, refugees and migrants for problems caused by austerity. And their state-sponsored racism is fuelling the growth of the likes of the DFLA.
We need a specific united front against fascism, but we also need a wider organisation that confronts the politicians and media’s racism. This is why Stand Up To Racism is so important— to mobilise against the FLA and DFLA and to take on the wider racism that fuels them
We need to mobilise in large numbers when the FLA march in Manchester on 19 May and the DFLA march in the same city on 2 June.
Details of the Manchester demo on 19 May are here https://www.facebook.com/events/2001642030103263??ti=ia
If left unchallenged, the far right can succeed in breaking back out of the political margins that we’ve driven into.
It’s time for anti-racists to mobilise against them.