COMRADES gathered in Motherwell today to remember those who left Lanarkshire to fight fascism in Spain 90 years ago.

Trade unionists, socialists and anti-fascists from across Lanarkshire and beyond rallied at the memorial in the Scottish steel town’s Duchess of Hamilton Park.

Speaking just 24 hours after fascists launched racist attacks on streets of nearby Glasgow, North Lanarkshire TUC’s Drew Gilchrist told the Star: “Today’s memorial for the 40 local volunteers, 11 of whom died, from north Lanarkshire fighting against fascism in Spain is a stark reminder of the long International history of Lanarkshire workers from Spain to Chile, Nicaragua to Leningrad.

“Our class shows that our struggle for freedom is the struggle for the world.”

Paying tribute to international brigaders’ sacrifice, he added: “Those men and women who gave up their lives, families and homes understood that to fight fascism in Spain was to fight it at home and that to defend our liberties from the most reactionary elements of capital meant giving up everything they loved.

“They are forever immortalised in the memory of the class.”