Saying No to Racism!

asssembling at Oxford Circus

By New Worker correspondent

 

London comrades joined the thousands of people who marched through central London, from Portland Place to Whitehall, to protest against the rising tide of racism and fascism, as symbolised by organisations such as the Football Lads Alliance and the English Defence League.

The demonstration was called by Stand Up to Racism, Unite Against Fascism and Love Music Hate Racism, with the support of a number of unions and community groups as well as senior members of Labour’s Corbyn leadership.

Members of the London Metropolitan cell of the New Communist Party joined the march and sold some New Workers at the demonstration that attracted anti-fascists and activists from all over London and beyond. Seen on the march were hammer and sickle red banners including one with Marx, Lenin and Stalin, as well as Brazilian and South African flags. Unfortunately there was also a European Union  flag, which reflected the mistaken view of the soft-left and liberals that the EU is some sort of bastion of progress and anti-fascism.

The march ended with a rally in Whitehall that was addressed by Len McCluskey from Unite, FBU's Matt Wrack, Kevin Courtney of the National Education Union, Zita Holbourne from the PCS civil service union, Mick Cash of the RMT, Lowkey the rapper, Bilou from the Grenfell Tower campaign and 1970s rock star Tom Robinson – who was introduced as the real ‘Tommy Robinson’ as opposed to Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who uses that name in honour of a well-known Luton Town football hooligan and to avoid using his obviously middle-class name in front of his racist followers.

Lowkey made an excellent speech saying that racism and fascism benefit the one per cent. Bilou spoke with anger about the recent disgusting incident in south London in which a model of the Grenfell Tower was burnt on a bonfire.

A small counter-demonstration of probably no than 15 fascists (your correspondent saw about six or so) was escorted by police up the other side of Whitehall. Afterwards the degenerates ensconced themselves in a pub to no doubt emulate Hitler’s Beer Cellar putsch. The pub was protected by a cordon of police in riot gear plus two lines of mounted police, which just goes to show that the police protect fascists and are definitely not neutral!

Standing up to racism and fascism

by New Worker correspondent

Anti-fascists rallied to hear Labour leaders and anti-racist campaigners call for a new movement to roll back the rise of the far right at a conference last weekend. Over 1,400 activists, including representatives from similar movements in Europe, Brazil and Canada, took part in the day-long meeting at the Quakers’ Friends Meeting House in London’s Euston Road.

The conference, organised by the Unite Against Fascism movement and the Stand Up to Racism campaign, was supported by activists from all over the country. Labour was well represented with two leading members of the Corbyn team, John McDonnell and Diane Abbott, giving key-note interventions during the discussions on how we can defeat the rise of fascism and racism.

At the close of conference a racist ‘football lads’ gang tried to barge their way into the building but the robust response of the stewards speedily dealt with the degenerates who beat a hasty retreat.

Racist Rage in Whitehall

by New Worker correspondent

 Police arrested five fascists in central London on Saturday after violence broke out during a protest against the jailing of former  English Defence League (EDL ) leader Stephen Yaxley-Lennon who calls himself 'Tommy Robinson’ in public. Robinson was jailed last month after he used social media to broadcast details of a trial that was subject to blanket reporting restrictions. Reporting restrictions are imposed on all court proceedings in Britain and are intended to avoid media reports that could influence the jury.

Thousands of racists and neo-nazis turned up for the rally and march that soon turned to violence when Chelsea and Millwall football gangs tried to attack Stand Up To Racism and Unite Against Fascism supporters mobilised to counter the fascist demonstration. They charged at officers in Whitehall before staging running battles with the police.

Bottles, sticks and cones were hurled at police officers and vehicles were attacked. At one point the police were outnumbered and forced to flee the scene in a hail of flying projectiles, pursued by the racist mob. Another bunch of fascists tried to force their way into Downing Street but were held at bay by the police.

At least two journalists were attacked by Robinson supporters. One was viciously kicked to the ground by a group of fascists. Police made a number of arrests including one person for possession of an offensive weapon and two for assault on a police officer.  The Metropolitan Police are now looking at CCTV footage of the Robinson demo.

One of those who spoke at the demonstration calling for the release of ‘Robinson’ was Dutch far-right leader, the Islamophobic Geert Wilders. Another was Filip Dewinter, a leading member of the Vlaams Belang party in Belgium. He is seen by many as an apologist for Belgium’s nazi collaborators during the Second World War.

Dewinter screamed “we are all Tommy Robinson” and claimed that the former EDL leader’s arrest was an attack on “everyone who is fighting mass immigration and Islamisation”. He claimed that the elite in Europe is already “submitting to Islam and imposing sharia law”.

They were joined by a number of notable far-right activists including the Holocaust denier Nicholas Kollerstrom and Luke Nash-Jones from Make Britain Great Again. 

The fascist degenerates blocked off a major road near Trafalgar Square in central London, chanting "Free Tommy Robinson" and hurling smoke bombs at police. They also for a time manage to hijack an open-topped tourist sight-seeing bus, holding up Union Jacks and placards

"During the protest there were scenes of violence which saw bottles, metal barriers and other objects thrown at officers," police said. "Five officers have reported injuries, which are not serious."

Two arrests were for assaulting a police officer, one for possessing an offensive weapon, one for possession of a flare and the other for criminal damage to a bus.

Robinson was already subject to a suspended sentence for a contempt charge related to a separate case when he was arrested last month, and had been warned by a judge he would face prison if he committed further offences.

Appearing in court under his real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, he pleaded guilty and was given 10 months in jail for contempt of court, and another three months for breaching his previous sentence.

Defying ice and snow to march against racism

AROUND 20,000 anti-racists took to the streets of London, Glasgow and Cardiff last Saturday, despite of snow and icy winds, as part of the United Nations International Anti-Racism Day.

Stand Up To Racism, the organisers of the event supported by the TUC, Unite, UNISON and many other trade unions, faith and community groups, said the extraordinary turnout in such bitterly cold conditions was because of the enormous depth of feeling against the biggest rise in racism since the 1930s, which has also fuelled a growth in far-right parties in Europe. 

The March Against Racism, which marks United Nations International Anti-Racism Day, was part of a series of demonstrations taking place in cities across Europe. Many were incensed by a recent Islamophobic “Punish a Muslim Day” stunt that targeted Muslim MPs and households around the country.

 Speakers demanded action from the Government against Islamophobic hate crime and pledged to stand up to Islamophobia on the designated day, 3rd April.

In London the march made its way from Portland Place to a rally in Parliament Square. Speakers at included Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott MP, journalist Gary Younge, Labour MPs David Lammy and Emma Dent Coad, Green Party Home Affairs spokesperson Shahrar Ali, and many other leading faith, community and trade union figures.

 Diane Abbott said: “Let’s reject the hatred that is manifest in the ‘punish a Muslim’ hate campaign which has affected Muslims around the country and my Muslim colleagues in Parliament, and the anti-Semitism concurrent with the rise of the far-right.

“We stand in the tradition of the kinder-transport which saved children from the Nazis. It is a stain on our conscience that refugees are drowning in the Mediterranean and rotting in squalid camps. I say refugees welcome!
“I was horrified by the desperation and misery I saw in Yarls Wood. No wonder I was stopped from visiting it for over a year. We must end indefinite detention and reject Theresa May’s hostile climate on immigration. The more informed the debate on immigration and refugees, the less cruel, chaotic and inhumane the system will be.”

Sabby Dhalu, the co-convenor of Stand Up To Racism, said: “We’ve seen the biggest rise in racism since the 1930s. ‘Punish a Muslim day’ is just one hideous part of biggest wave of hate crime we have seen in generations.

“With thousands stranded and destitute in northern France, our government has disgracefully still failed to implement the Dubs Amendment. The fact that women in Yarls Wood are having to go on hunger strike to raise awareness of their inhumane treatment is a savage indictment of Britain’s policy towards refugees and migrants.”

Weyman Bennett, the other Stand Up To Racism co-convenor, said: “Today we marched in 55 countries against racism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism — we’ve seen inside Austria the rise of the FPO and in Germany the fascist AfD. Our slogan is Never Again and that’s why it’s vital we stand up to Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Bannon speaking at the Front National rally. “We are black, we are white, we are Jewish, we are Muslim, we are gay, young, old, women, men, disabled… If we unite like a fist we can break the racists and the Nazis and create a better world in which to live.”

Bad day for Britain First in Bromley

by New Worker correspondent

THE NEO-FASCIST organisation Britain First (BF), notorious for violent attacks on mosques, has problems. Its leaders Paul Golding and Jayda Franzen have a number of court orders against them, and Golding is obliged every Saturday between 2pm and 4pm to sign in at his nearest police station. As he lives in Penge, south London, that police station is in Bromley, next to Bromley South Rail Station.

This limits the range of political demonstrations he can take part in on Saturdays. So, trying to make a virtue out of a necessity, he called a national mobilisation of BF supporters outside Bromley Police Station for last Saturday.

Ex-BNP members mingled with ex-Combat 18 thugs. This really was a rump and was the lowest BF demo for some time. But the total number who turned up – around 40 – was massively outnumbered by local anti-fascists.

These included Labour Party members, Liberal Democrats, Greens, South London Anti-Fascists, Antifa, trade unionists from RMT, TSSA, ASLEF, Unite the Union, the NEU educational union and the civil service union, and Disabled People against Cuts  (DPAC) – plus some passers-by who joined in.

And the anti-fascists were noisy, very noisy, and succeeded in drowning the noise of a BF amplifier playing ‘patriotic’ music.

Several of the fascists, overweight and with greying hair, were wearing a khaki uniform bearing the word “Security”. Political uniforms were outlawed by a public order Act in the 1930s. Anti-fascists will be taking up this issue with the appropriate authorities.

The fascists had hoped to march from Bromley North to the station but were banned from marching through the shopping centre on a Saturday afternoon.