Racist Christmas stunt flops

by New Worker correspondent

Last weekend little more than a thousand people turned up to hear Tommy Robinson and his kind put “Christ back in Christmas” – a far cry from the 100,000 or so who supported  Robinson’s “unite the kingdom” rally in September. Hymn sheets were handed out to the crowd while other sold England flags and Santa hats. But Rowan Williams, the retired archbishop of Canterbury, warned of the potential “weaponisation” of events, and said the Church of England must be “absolutely clear” that the true Christian message was one of compassion and welcome to all.
The man who calls himself “Tommy Robinson” – who has recently returned from a Zionist propaganda tour of Israel – is trying to introduce American-style “Christian” nationalism into the UK.  At his carol service in central London his told his followers that this involves "drawing attention to unchecked immigration and the fading of our cultural heritage". Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, told the crowd he used to “hate the church” but says he met a pastor in prison who taught him about the Bible. 
Stand Up to Racism (SUTR) said “Robinson’s event got nowhere near the big numbers he predicted today. While there is absolutely no room for complacency, it shows that Tommy Robinson's momentum can be broken. Now let’s go all out to build a massive ‘Together against the far right’ demo on Saturday 28th March”.
One of the SUTR leaders, Weyman Bennett,  said, “We have to oppose fascism and what the Nazis stand for”. Slamming Robinson’s “false Christianity”, he said, “Robinson is closer to Satan than he is to Christ. Growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness, I was told Satan comes into the world full of lies and division.
“When they come with lies, we will stand up and resist. They told me to turn the other cheek. But I’ve run out of cheeks. I have to turn to resistance to walk the streets. 
“We have to learn from the Anti Nazi League. Nazis can’t pray and they can’t dance. They have no culture, they have no history – we have that, we are the majority
“We have to remember those lessons. That’s why I’m proud of the Together Alliance for calling the unity demonstration on 28th March. We are going to fill London”.

Racist clash in central London

By New Worker correspondent

Fascists and racists were out on the streets of London last weekend demanding the release of the former leader of the English Defence League (EDL), who is currently in Belmarsh prison. Scuffles broke out with the police along the march as racist thugs attempted to break through police lines to attack the anti-racist demonstrators.

Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who goes by the name of Tommy Robinson, was jailed for contempt of court after live-streaming defendants outside Leeds Crown Court during a criminal trial on the sexual exploitation of girls in Huddersfield. The former EDL leader failed recently in the European elections to become an MEP in the North West, due to a large, broad-based campaign by anti-racists, of which Stand Up To Racism (SUTR) was central.

Although hundreds turned up to join the racist march, the degenerates were easily outnumbered by supporters of SUTR, the Anti-Fascist Network and the London Anti-Fascist Assembly who rallied in Regent Street to counter the “Free Tommy” rabble.

SUTR Co-Convenor, Sabby Dhalu, said: “Today showed that all the work done by anti-fascists to challenge and expose Tommy Robinson, from counter-demos to election campaigns has a major effect. As Boris Johnson positions himself at the head of a Trump-like movement in Britain, it’s vital we continue to unite against fascist groups and the bigotry that emboldens them.”

This was also stressed by Weyman Bennett of SUTR, who said: “Tommy Robinson has a history of promoting fascist organisations including the British National Party and English Defence League. Days like today show the true nature of his supporters – racist and Islamophobic to the core. Last year they mobilised around 15,000 on the streets of London, now they can only bring out tiny a fraction of that. We stopped Robinson when he was in the EDL. We stopped him becoming an MEP. We’ll stop him again from building the racist street movement he craves.”

UKIP demo flop in London

by New Worker correspondent

anti-fascists on the march

 

Anti-fascists easily outnumbered the rabble that had turned up in central London on Sunday to march behind ‘Tommy Robinson’ to ‘Stop Brexit Betrayal’. Robinson, a well-known racist bigot whose real name in Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was making his debut for UKIP, which recently appointed him as some sort of adviser in a last-ditch effort to halt the decline that followed the departure of their old leader, Nigel Farage.

About 3,000 Kippers, and the usual fascist degenerates who hang around Robinson, marched to Parliament Square with their flags and banners to hurl abuse at the May Government that they claimed had betrayed the Brexit vote.

Thousands more turned up to oppose them. Stand Up to Racism (SUTR) reckoned that around 15,000 responded to the call to confront the racists on the streets. SUTR and others said the message of the counter-demonstration was that Leavers and Remainers alike will not stand for fascists attempting to profit from a crisis; and that we will not stop until the rise of the far-right, and the wave of hate crime that has accompanied it, has been defeated.

At their rally in Whitehall, SUTR’s Weyman Bennett said: “We had a brilliant demonstration against Tommy Robinson – outnumbering and humiliating him. Now we have to redouble our efforts. Robinson and Batten are attempting to normalise and legitimise fascism and we cannot let it happen.

“Tommy Robinson should be locked up. When he made that speech saying that Jamal, a Syrian refugee, deserved to be beaten up, it was a disgrace. That’s what fascists do. They try to divide us and destroy us. Our message is very simple: ‘never again’.

“We face dangerous times and dangerous times mean we need to organise. We need to build in our communities to make sure ‘never again’ is something real.”

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.