FOR TOO long, the far right has tried to divide our communities. For too long, it has preyed on the economic insecurity of working people, the lack of decent jobs and secure housing, our fears for our families, to promote racism and division.

That ends today.

Today, we have brought together a mass movement of resistance to the far right — a movement built on solidarity and unity in the face of hate and division.

These are the words of the Together Alliance, which has mobilised tens of thousands of people on the streets today.

Today is a huge demonstration of solidarity and unity, bringing together people from right across our country to stand together, in all their diversity, against those who would divide our communities, those who would pit worker against worker, while our people continue to suffer the impact of economic crisis.

The breadth of the Together Alliance is its great strength. We have brought together people from all walks of life, every major trade union in Britain, charities, NGOs, community campaigns, politicians from a multitude of different parties. Today’s mobilisation shows that people are wiling to stand together for what they believe in — to push back the tide of hate that threatens our society.

However, we also know that marching isn’t enough. This massive display of strength is just the first step. If we really want to combat the divisive impact of far-right ideology in British politics, if we want to push back the rise of a violent far right street movement, then we need to take this movement and turn it into something that reaches into every part of Britain, that speaks to people up and down our country.

That means organising in every workplace, in every community, to build deep roots and to win back working-class people who are being sucked in by far-right ideas. It means challenging the lies about migrants, about Jews, about Muslims. It means challenging the vile misogyny promoted online and in the real world. It means challenging every attempt to divide working-class communities.

That is why the Together Alliance has developed a clear plan over the next three years to build on today’s mobilisation. We will focus on six key strands of work:

• Unity mobilisations like today — because there is strength in numbers and when we stand together, we show our breadth and diversity;
• Building a movement around music, arts and culture — because culture is what brings us together and connects us;
• A workplace organising strategy — to build power workplace by workplace to win for our class and push back the far right;
• A community-organising strategy — because workers are not one-dimensional and their issues do not end the moment they leave the workplace;
• An education and training strategy — to invest in our people and develop the layer of activists needed to deliver the wider strategy; and
• Investing in movement infrastructure — to develop the data, policy and organisational capacity we need to win for workers and push back the rise of far-right ideology.

This is an ambitious plan. But it needs to be.

Ninety years ago, when Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists (BUF) tried to march through the East End of London, the community mobilised to stop them. Communists, Jews, trade unionists and socialists came together to take back their streets and the fascists did not pass.

But after the Battle of Cable Street, the work didn’t stop. They went into the fascist-supporting areas and organised. They built community campaigns and housing campaigns and won people back from the far right by showing what happens when working people stand together.

As Phil Piratin recounts I his book, Our Flag Stays Red: “We asked this member of the BUF about to be evicted what the fascists had done for him. He said that he had raised the matter, but they had no intention of doing anything.”

Instead, Jews and communists arranged the eviction defence of the family and won. “The news went round very quickly … BUF membership cards were destroyed voluntarily and in disgust.”

The real answer to the far right is workers’ organisation and it is our job to build it.

Gawain Little is general secretary of the General Federation of Trade Unions.