POLITICIANS must go after “the corporations extracting money out of communities, rather than demonise the most impoverished and downtrodden” or they will face a repeat of the scenes in Falkirk last Saturday, the STUC told the Morning Star today.

The stark warning followed protests outside the Cladhan Hotel, used by the Home Office to house people seeking asylum in a town still reeling from the loss of Grangemouth oil refinery and the threatened closure of the Alexander Dennis bus plant. 

Hijacking local concerns after one asylum-seeker was jailed for rape amid rampant misinformation, far-right groups whipped up a 1,000-strong crowd outside the hotel with chants of “send them home” and “paedos,” while counter-demonstrators, led by Falkirk Trades Union Council and Stand Up to Racism, were outnumbered four to one in a situation that one anti-racist described as “tinderbox.”

Arguing that the far right has “no interest in the welfare of the people of Falkirk,” STUC general secretary Roz Foyer said: “Scenes from the weekend at Falkirk, with nazi salutes, anti-migrant chanting and flags calling for the murder of asylum-seekers, deserve to be condemned unequivocally.

“Far-right groups are perverting community safety concerns into a vicious campaign of hate and intimidation against those who have taken refuge from violence and oppression.

“They want to divert our attention to the true perpetrators of poverty and inequality.

“People are angry and disenfranchised by a political and economic system that strips communities of agency and power. 

“Politicians must answer with solutions that identify the real culprits — corporations extracting money out of communities — rather than demonise the most impoverished and downtrodden. 

“Otherwise, scenes like Saturday, whereby far-right groups hijack concerns on community safety, will continue to be met with counter-protests from our movement.”