Unions Issue Rallying Cry to Help Communities Defeat the Far Right

Counter demonstration in Nottingham Market Square against far-right thugs rioting in the city, August 3, 2024

TRADE unionists have been urged to mobilise and offer support on the ground after far-right agitators exploited the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport to incite riots nationwide.

Over the week, mobs have targeted mosques and hotels housing asylum-seekers after dozens of rallies were circulated by far-right figures on social media. Over 150 arrests have been made.

Security guards told Sky News that asylum-seekers had been forced to sleep in the woods after protesters attacked their hotel and attempted to set it ablaze in Rotherham on Sunday.

Far-right mobs also smashed their way into a Holiday Inn in Tamworth and tried to torch the premises the same evening.

National monitoring group Tell Mama has identified far-right threats that seek to target immigration solicitors and refugee services in more than 30 locations tomorrow.

Communication Workers Union general secretary Dave Ward sent a letter urging branch committees to contact local mosques, refugee centres and solidarity groups to offer support on the ground.

The same call was also issued to RMT members by general secretary Mick Lynch, who called on trade unionists to “do all within our power to oppose hate and division in our communities and workplaces.”

The unrest began after a knife attack in which three girls were killed in Southport on Monday was falsely attributed online to a non-existent recently arrived Muslim migrant.

Far-right figures such as English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson seized on the tragedy to spread racist lies while members of groups such as Patriotic Alternative published calls to mobilise on messaging service Telegram.

In Southport, fascists hijacked a vigil for the stabbing victims, with rioters targeting a mosque and smashing its windows.

The rioting prompted a judge to lift the age-restricted anonymity ban on the attacker, who was named as 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, born to Christian parents in Cardiff.

But mobs have continued to run amok across Britain.

Families have been forced to flee areas of Liverpool, Sunderland, Hull and Huddersfield, among other places, as shops were looted and racist slogans chanted during protests held under titles such as “Save Our Children.”

Mick Whelan, general secretary of rail union Aslef, and Helen Pearce, director of Labour Unions, released a statement saying that racism and violence “must be confronted with acts of solidarity in our communities against those distorting tragedies for their own ends, just to sow hatred.”

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said that without unity, the working class cannot make change.

“Division and blame are the bosses’ game,” she wrote on Facebook.

“It wasn’t the migrant who crashed our financial system in 2008. It was not the migrant who imposed austerity.”

Taking aim at Labour, she added: “We need change now. Not waffle about responsible spending or fiscal rules.

“None of this talks to the worker or their community. It just plays into the hands of those that seek division.

“Labour has one shot. If they fail to deliver, the populist right will emerge ever stronger.”

She called on the trade union movement to “step up to the plate,” not only through demonstrations but by building long-term organisation across workplaces and communities.

Unison general secretary Christina McAnea called on communities to “stand united in rejecting this abhorrent extremism and work to foster a society grounded in mutual respect.”

The Royal College of Nursing has urged health leaders to review risk assessments to keep workers safe.

General secretary Professor Nicola Ranger said: “Migrant nursing staff are precious members of our communities, hardwired into the very DNA of our health and care services — we ask government to ensure that anybody targeting them pays a very heavy price.”

Calls for risk assessments were also issued by the NUJ following the targeting of journalists covering the riots.

The Indian Workers Association, Kairali UK and the Students Federation of India issued a statement urging “all progressive organisations to strengthen these displays of solidarity and resist the rise of hateful sentiments.”

“The slogans of xenophobia have no place in a country that is steeped in the labour and sacrifice of immigrant communities across the world.”