A Call to Action
This summer, the country endured a series of racist attacks that were perhaps the most vivid expression of hatred we’ve witnessed in decades. Now, we face the threat of that hatred spilling on to our streets again. As an anti-racist campaigner for 30 years, I write these words not to evoke panic or to sensationalise but as a call to action for everyone.
Tommy Robinson, who mobilised 15,000 far right thugs in the days before the riots, is calling another demonstration on the 26th October which threatens to embolden far right groups throughout the country to perpetrate further terror in our towns and cities. No one is exempt from suffering: in Southampton we saw areas of the city closed down entirely, businesses closing early and a palpable fear on the streets as rumours of attacks were shared on social media. Stricken with fear, many people felt imprisoned in their homes.
It isn’t difficult to identify the connection between Robinson’s mobilisation in London on the 27th July and the hijacking of the vigil in Southport on the 30th, one where rioters were heard shouting Robinson’s name. That night, fuelled by disinformation about the identity of the murderer of young girls in the area in an explicit attempt to demonise Muslims, a collection of far right thugs proceeded to demonstrate outside a local mosque, throwing objects at the mosque and police, and set a police van alight.
In the days that followed, violent mayhem ensued throughout the country. In Rotherham a hotel housing asylum seekers had its windows smashed as fascists attempted to set the buildings on fire with a bin full of flammable material. In Tamworth another hotel being used as asylum seeker accommodation was damaged, and they succeeded in setting fire to part of the building. In Middlesbrough, rioters targeted houses and cars in a residential area, setting vehicles alight. Muslim graves were desecrated at Burnley cemetery. The list of violent attacks is endless; I can only provide a snapshot here of the carnage caused by people whose singular intent was not to make a political statement but to terrorise communities.
These attacks were not limited to the north of the country. Close to home in Aldershot on August 1st a group of 200 anti-immigration protesters gathered outside a hotel used by the government to house asylum seekers, hurling racial abuse and throwing objects. Later that week in Portsmouth the largest anti-immigration protest in the country that day blocked Mile End Road, while in Bournemouth a similar number gathered. In the months that have followed they continue to gather in these places to promote hatred and unrest in places on our doorstep.
For the unitiated, this is precisely how fascist groups gain a foothold in communities; unchallenged and unopposed, their rhetoric of xenophobia and outright racism become normalised. Extreme far right views —such as the ‘great replacement theory’ which warns that white Europeans are actively being replaced by non-white immigrants — proliferate in everyday conversation, and those views become entrenched.
All of this is to say that when Robinson and his acolytes gather, violence is never far away, and that violence is closer than we may like to think. Inexplicably he has 1 million followers on X (formerly known as Twitter) and his latest book tops the bestseller charts as I write. His influence on a swathe of predominantly disaffected men is a grave concern for us all, and a stark warning that this country, scarred by austerity politics and inflammatory racist rhetoric, remains fertile terrain for those who pursue a fascist agenda.
Ultimately the threat from the far right was curtailed by ordinary people, as counter-demonstrations by anti-racists across the land subsumed their efforts. We stood up to fascism in our thousands, defeating the clarion call of hate that Robinson had sent out to his followers and far beyond. As the months pass, that threat may not be visible to many of us now, but was it then? Did any of us predict that we would be engulfed by such an intense wave of violence in our towns and cities?
We must surely learn from history, and with even more clarity given how recent that history is. If we remain passive, if we allow the far right to gather in their thousands and extoll messages of hatred unopposed, then we have learned nothing. We’ve seen how that goes. Opposing them, in the most visual way possible, by outnumbering them, is the clearest way we can let them know they do not speak for us, their views are not ours, and they are not welcome. We must sing in one voice, united by a fundamental rejection of the politics of fear and an embrace of a culture which embraces love and compassion. There is a joyfulness when hatred is defeated; I’ve felt it, stood side by side with people young and old from all backgrounds, brought together by a determination for peace.
We at Southampton Stand Up to Racism are organising a coach to a peaceful counter-demonstration in central London on Saturday 26th October as we join thousands from across the country to stand up to Tommy Robinson, to the far right, to racism, to Islamophobia and anti-semitism. Please join us if you share these values — this is a fight we can win — but only if we stand up together and make our voices heard.
Tickets are available here:
