THOUSANDS of anti-racism campaigners rallied across Britain at the weekend to reject the Tories’ “desperate attempt” to win votes by ramping up division and to show support for MP Diane Abbott.

The rallies took place just days after reports emerged that a major Tory donor had said that Britain’s longest-serving black MP “should be shot.”

And in the same week, the government ramped up its Islamophobic rhetoric, with Communities Secretary Michael Gove unveiling a new definition of extremism targeting Muslim groups.

Sabby Dhalu, co-convener of organisers Stand up to Racism, told the Morning Star: “We mobilised to reject the Tories’ ramping up of racism, Islamophobia, hatred, and division in a bid to gain votes at the general election.”

Mr Gove’s definition of extremism, which he is using to try to bar the Muslim Association of Britain, Cage, and Muslim Engagement and Development from funding and meeting with ministers, fails to hold “any credibility,” she said.

“It just smacks of a desperate attempt by a government that is sliding in the polls to do anything to capture votes.”

More than 5,000 turned up to the protest in London on Saturday, while hundreds rallied in Glasgow and Cardiff.

Ms Dhalu said there had been an unusually heavy police presence towards the end of the London protest, which was “unnecessary, because the event was completely peaceful.”

She said: “I think this is in response to the government’s policy on cracking down on the right to protest.”

Speaking from a stage outside the Home Office, David Rosenberg from the Jewish Socialists’ Group had some advice for Mr Gove: “If you want to fight extremism, the first thing you should do is break off your party’s relationships with their closest allies in Europe, with Meloni and Le Pen’s fascist parties.” 

Teachers’ union NASUWT general secretary Patrick Roach told the crowd that he was not going to take lectures from the government on the meaning of extremism, nor from a party that “takes money from racist donors” to fund campaigns.

“I don’t just want them to give that money back, I want them to be locked up too,” he said to cheers from the crowd.

And National Education Union general secretary Daniel Kebede said: “If Frank Hester didn’t turn up to work, no-one would miss him.

“But Muslim people, Jewish people, migrants, refugees, black and white, we build this country. If it wasn’t for us, not a single cog would turn.

“Through our collectivity, we can build a world free from racism.”

Mr Hester, a tech tycoon who has donated at least £10 million to the Tory Party in the last year, reportedly made the comments at a work meeting where he also said that Ms Abbott made him “want to hate all black women.”

PM Rishi Sunak, who is reportedly set to take another £5m from the donor, said that his alleged “remorse should be accepted.”

Following the report, a debate about racism was held during Prime Minister’s Questions, during which Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle denied Ms Abbott the chance to speak.

The MP said she was “surprised” she was not picked to question Mr Sunak, and that she stood up more than 40 times.

Mr Hoyle claimed he “ran out of time,” but even Tory Cabinet minister Mark Harper admitted it was “a bit odd” today.

At a rally held in her support on Friday, Ms Abbott said: “This is not about me. This is absolutely [about] the level of racism in Britain. 

“We have to stand up. We have to stand firm. We have to make sure that for generations of young black people, they don’t have to suffer the racism that we had to suffer.”

In the wake of the comments, thousands have called for Ms Abbott to have her parliamentary powers restored.

Ms Abbott was suspended from the party last April after saying white marginalised groups do not suffer racism “all of the time.”

She withdrew her remarks the same day and apologised “for any anguish caused” but has remained under investigation, while the Labour leadership faces criticism over its purge of left-wing members.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar also told a Unison Labour Link meeting on Saturday that he would advocate Ms Abbott’s reinstatement into the party. 

At Saturday’s rally, Labour MP John McDonnell said: “If the Labour Party want to be perceived as an anti-racist party, there is one simple step that can be done today, and that is Sir Keir Starmer restoring the whip to Diane Abbott.”