BRITAIN is gearing up for a weekend of resistance to send the far-right packing.
Stand Up to Racism (SUTR) has called for a day of national protest on Saturday with over 40 demonstrations planned.
Islamophobic and racist violence has escalated across the country following the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport last week.
Far-right agitators exploited the tragedy and incited riots after spreading lies online claiming that the attacker, who was born in Britain to a Christian family, was Muslim and a migrant.
Following mobilisations circulated on far-right social media channels, rioters attempted to torch hotels housing asylum-seekers in Tamworth and Rotherham.
Multiple mosques have been targeted, and hate crimes against Muslims have risen three-fold, according to national monitoring group Tell Mama.
Appalling scenes of arson and the chanting of racist slogans were seen across the country, with some of the worst unrest in Hartlepool, Liverpool, Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Hull.
So far 595 arrests have been made and over 150 people have been charged.
Over 25,000 united in defiance against the far right on Wednesday, making it clear that communities would not be divided.
In London on Saturday, protesters will gather outside the headquarters of the anti-immigration Reform party.
Following the stabbing, the party’s leader Nigel Farage sought to repeatedly inflame tensions and fuel conspiracy asking if “the truth is being withheld.”
Nottingham, Sheffield, Portsmouth and Hull are among the places also holding protests.
Activists from across Scotland will also come out to demonstrate their solidarity, with campaigners rallying in Glasgow’s George Square, Edinburgh’s Scottish Parliament and Dundee’s City Square.
Aberdeen’s “No to Hate” rally will take place on Sunday.
Locally, trades councils have also sprung into action, after intelligence pointed to the Watermill Hotel in Paisley and Cairn Hotel in Bathgate as possible targets for far-right attack last night.
Fresh from driving fascists from a hotel housing refugees in Erskine, Paisley and District Trades Council organised a rally at the hotel this evening, while their comrades in West Lothian organised a similar show of solidarity.
West Lothian Trades Council’s Tommy Kane told the Star: “We are there to show our support and solidarity with the human beings being housed in this hotel, and show them that we’re on their side, that bigotry isn’t who we are.
“More than anything, we’re here to show the human beings being housed here that we are the many, and the racists are the few.”
PCS, whose members’ workplaces such as visa and immigration offices have been targeted, is among the unions encouraging members to join the SUTR protests this weekend.
General secretary Frances Heathcote said: “Everybody who stands for human decency must now unite against the fascist threat.”
In a statement to members she said that “falling living standards across decades, coupled with decades of governments indulging in the worst type of racist rhetoric against refugees in a naked attempt to mask their failings on living standards, have created the conditions that the fascists are now attempting to exploit.”
NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede said: “The peaceful actions of thousands on the march in recent days and alongside Stand Up to Racism this Saturday, are a testament to the trade union movement’s strong and vibrant history of opposing racism and fascism.
“Fighting the far right is a trade union issue.”
Many unions have issued calls encouraging members to help offer support to mosques and refugee centres on the ground.
Labour minister Nick Thomas-Symonds told Sky News that he does not think it is helpful for politicians to encourage people to attend peaceful protests with police forces stretched.
But Stop the War’s national convener Lindsey German hit back: “All over the country people have come out to say no to the racists and fascists.
“Getting the Islamophobes off our streets has been a victory entirely for them, not the police.
“So of course the politicians don’t want us to protest — it shows their failure and might lead people to the conclusion that peaceful protests actually do work.”
Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy said: “We must now seize the moment and build a movement to defeat the far right for good.
“Doing this will mean looking at everything from ending austerity and tackling regional inequality to addressing digital and print media misinformation, implementing an honest history curriculum in our schools, dismantling the hostile environment and challenging politicians and media outlets that peddle dogwhistle narratives.”
