ANTI-RACISTS and anti-fascists should celebrate the way that tens of thousands have been mobilised over recent weeks. At short notice we stopped the fascists in most towns and cities — but not all. Still, too many hotels housing vulnerable people were attacked, both physically and verbally.

This mobilisation brought together anti-racist groups, trade unionists, people of faith, Palestine activists, those involved in Black Lives Matter and political parties. And while Labour in Parliament told its MPs and lords not to join in — remarkable, but some did, as did many councillors and Labour Party members.

As Migrants Organise stated last week: “Across the country, we are seeing a deeply concerning rise of the far right’s attacks on our people, in our homes and on the streets, organised around racism, Islamophobia, border violence, transphobia and global fascist forces.

“This violent escalation on our streets is a direct result of years of state racism in Britain. Years of racist, Islamophobic and anti-migrant state policies and media narratives have aimed to dehumanise and divide those of us whose lives are deemed disposable.

“From the threat of deportations and raids, the Prevent protocol, the gang’s matrix, to the hostile immigration regime, we’ve seen time and again how the state wields a web of violent policies that surveil and criminalise our neighbours while stoking flames of racism, xenophobia and fascism in our communities.

“Recognising and naming this connection between state racism and the far right gives us strength to connect our struggles, and resist together.

“History teaches us that the far right weaponises fear and intimidation in the hope that we will be silenced, that we will stay home instead of protecting our communities. History also teaches us that we outnumber them by far. We have stopped them before, and we can and will again.”

Unions also responded. My own union PCS stated: “PCS reps and activists, alongside thousands of members, have been horrified by the recent scenes of violence that have characterised far-right gatherings in the wake of the shocking murder of three young girls in Southport.

“Those that attended or have seen on the news the amazing scenes of solidarity and unity that communities have mounted against the far right, be it through helping out at the clean-up operation after a riot or mobilising in numbers that dwarf those of the fascists (as we did on August 7).

“These scenes should give us hope that racism and fascism can be eradicated from our streets and communities, but we would be naive to think that the threat of further terror at the hands of the fascists has gone away or will not reoccur in the future.”

In a recent branch briefing, PCS says that a major part of preventing far-right ideology from getting a foothold in our workplaces and communities is through education. It is important, therefore, that union branches have a strategy in place to tackle this for the medium and the long term.

The Communist Party’s Anti-Racist Anti-Fascist Commission has welcomed the role of unions, community groups and anti-racist organisations such as Stand Up To Racism. We welcome the call for a broader anti-racist and anti-fascist campaign.

But as has been said by many, we have a lot to do. The first thing to recognise is that racists see the current issues we all face through the prism of race. Socialists must see this through the prism of class.

Calls to take back our hotels only serve to heighten the racist discourse. We don’t own these hotels and the multinational chains are making thousands of pounds from their contracts with the government.

We must therefore link our anti-cuts campaigns with our anti-racist campaigns. Government-inspired austerity measures which result in further cuts to basic healthcare, education, pensions etc must be opposed and reversed.

The government’s failure to deal with child poverty and massive profits of fuel and water companies must be challenged both industrially and within our local campaigns, using our trades councils and the anti-austerity People’s Assembly.

Links must be made with the Indian Workers Association, Bangladeshi Workers Council and the anti-imperialist Caribbean Solidarity as well as black-led organisations such as The Liberation Movement.

The second thing to accept is that our struggle is international in nature. The continued wars across the globe, including that in Palestine, cause massive suffering and instability.

They are fed by the military-industrial complex and result in the mass movements of people. In July 2020 the UN estimated that there were 281 million international migrants in the world. The majority are internally displaced. The US has the highest number, followed by Germany and Saudi Arabia. It is not surprising that there is a higher rate to more affluent countries.

We must therefore make the link with war. After all, war is often preceded by the denigration of the people to be invaded.

And thirdly we must combat imperialism, both historically and now. Western countries are more than content to take key resources from poorer resource-rich countries.

They are happy to pass on their environmental costs to poorer nations. They are quite happy to impose their economic solutions on nations that they previously subjugated by force of arms.

This means anti-racist movements must act internationally to oppose imperialism, war and sanctions. Sanctions are war by another name, and are imposed by rich nations — particularly the US — for their own economic and political gains.

The fight against racism and fascism in Britain needs to recognise that these are real and even when we push back the far right in 2024 these beliefs will still remain unless challenged.

These riots cannot be stopped by more repressive laws which will also be aimed at the left but must be challenged politically. Locally as well as nationally.

Yes, there are racists and supporters of fascism in all walks of life, and yes, we must safeguard and show solidarity with those under attack. We must look to develop communities that are resilient and challenge the far right not just by blocking them but by building campaigns led by working-class leaders. Many of those can come from our tenants’ associations and trade unions.

Progressives need to challenge the narrative propagated by politicians, the media and others. We can go back centuries when looking at Britain. In 1936 there was a significant rise in anti-semitism. In 2024 we see a rise in Islamophobia. Slavery and the anti-immigration laws resulted in anti-black racism which then led to Windrush.

We call for anti-racist immigration and nationality laws along with the Bangladeshi Workers Council, Caribbean Workers Solidarity, Indian Workers Association and Jewish Voice for Labour.

Reform UK grew out of the racist rhetoric of all the major parties. Anti-migrant rhetoric results in people being beaten up and threatened. Shops being firebombed. Any anti-racist movement must therefore include people in the leadership level who have lived experience of day-to-day racism.

Reform UK gained 14 per cent of the votes cast in the general election, winning five seats. The overtly anti-migrant party achieved over 20 per cent of the vote in 135 constituencies.

The slogans were easy: stop the boats, make work pay, zero waiting lists and freeze immigration. It is unsurprising that a large number of people see migration as a real issue when they have been bombarded by anti-migrant propaganda for years.

Reform UK’s votes come from many strata, including Tories, but also those who were on the far-right demonstration in June and it is recognised by those who oppose privatisation and support higher public-sector spending.

The Communist Party will do what it can to broaden our campaigning to develop a united front against racism and fascism and for progressive policies based on working-class demands.

The reaction on the streets to the far right, and the actions of trade unions, gives us all hope that we can develop such a united front. It is now up to us and our organisations to deliver. Grasp this opportunity.