Examining the UAF

The UAF is the SWP’s flagship front a anti racist and anti fascist organisation which has been around on many demonstrations against the far right for some time now I thought it might be useful to look at its pro’s and con’s and what we do need as a anti fascist movement as far right idea are on the rise right across Europe today and will at some point gain more support here in Britain once again. In the week Tommy Robinson’s high profile resignation from the EDL the UAF have been prominent in opposing the EDL for sometime now and do a lot of good but also do a lot of damage to the movement too I would suggest. Since the last time the EDL was in Tower Hamlets in 2011 many things have changed. They suffered a general decline in their fortunes and early this year we were all getting ready to write their epitaph. Then everything changed in May when the EDL managed to swiftly exploit the murder of a British army soldier in London. Suddenly there were 2000 of them on demos again, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon was being interviewed on TV all the time, their Facebook likes went from under 24,000 to over 100,000 within a day and they seemed to have leapfrogged further ahead than they ever were before. The last few months have in general been a frightening time when the far-right has looked like they were winning. More recently, the effect of their exploitation of Lee Rigby’s death seems to be wearing off a little, but the support and sympathisers that they have gained in this period will not go away so easily, even if they are not always willing to turn out on the streets. In addition, since May, there has been a huge spike in anti-Muslim attacks both on people and mosques, including nailbomb and firebomb attacks. Many of these attacks have been directly linked to the EDL through EDL graffiti left at the scene or EDL members convicted for the attacks. Even without these direct links it is clear that a general rise in far-right activity creates a climate where such attacks happen. It feels like the clock is rapidly rolling back to the racist murders of the early ‘90s associated with an increase in support for the BNP (of which Stephen Lawrence was to become the most high profile victim), or possibly to the murderous violence of the late ‘70s rise of the NF, which claimed the life of Altab Ali among others. The EDL have not been alone in this effort to drag us back into the racist violence of the past. A whole alphabet soup of splinter groups to the right of the EDL now hold their own marches and rallies across the country, mostly in limited numbers, but making up for that in more overt traditional racism than the EDL is willing to openly espouse. The rise of UKIP and the phenomenon of ‘Woolwich Strong’ both indicated a large passive basis of support for nationalistic, racist and anti-immigrant politics. And all along official state racism has been providing the grounding context for this, slowly shifting the middle ground of politics to the right with its normalising of ‘go home’ rhetoric. The government not-so-subtly borrowed the idea of the BNP’s ‘truth truck’, turning it into the UK Border Agency’s notorious ‘racist van’ and has introduced squads of Border Agency staff illegally stopping and demanding papers from foreign-looking people on the street like we were living in pass-law era South Africa. There has been a general failure to adequately deal with the change represented by the rise of the EDL in the last 4 years. The anti-fascist and anti-racist movements have been found wanting in the swift change from combating the electoral politics of the BNP to the sudden re-emergence of far-right street gangs with the EDL. The ‘official’ anti-fascist movement represented by Hope Not Hate and UAF, for all the good work they do, are hamstrung by their close ties to the authorities – they are not willing to risk breaking the law in order to effectively confront the fascists on the streets. Politically they are tied to Labour politicians, union bureaucrats and conservative religious leaders which means their proclaimed politics can only be a fairly shallow liberal celebration of ‘multicultural Britain’, which is fine as far as it goes, but leaves them struggling to combat the EDL either ideologically or physically. Additionally anti-fascism has been hit by the fall-out from the SWP’s ‘Comrade Delta’ scandal. For those that haven’t been following all the Trot gossip – the SWP is Britain’s largest far-left group and the main driving force behind UAF, but earlier this year the party was thrown into disarray by allegations of rape and sexual abuse against a senior party member. As a consequence of the party leadership’s flawed handling of this, significant numbers of SWP members have left the party and there are many disaffected Swappies in the ranks. The effect of this on UAF is hard to precisely judge for those not involved themselves, but it certainly seems to have had an impact on their organisational capacity. The UAF have always been good in getting ood numbers out for anti racist and anti fascist demonstrations and this has been a positive thing. Big numbers opposing the racists on the street is a sign of strength of feeling but simply isn’t enough in my opinion. The point is not to get complacent. If they seem to be in some slight period of decline, that’s the time for us to organise. Better to redouble our efforts when they are in decline and try and finish them off, rather than relax and wait for the next opportunity for them to blame something on Muslims and increase their support. And if this does happen then we need to be ready to confront it, rather than being taken by surprise. Certainly UAF are not all bad and do act as a beacon for drawing in support on demonstrations for example In Tower Hamlets, UAF held a rally in the park and did not brave the police to go and confront the EDL directly. That is not the worst thing in the world. I am sure we all believe in using a diversity of tactics in combating fascism, including those that are non-confrontational. If UAF had not organised a rally, we would have had to have done it ourselves to give an option to people who did not want to risk arrest or confrontation. I disagree with much that UAF do and how they do it but we would be really screwed if they didn’t exist. They have opposed the EDL across the country and sometimes been the only ones to do so so you have to hand it to them for that. I just think an open democratic debate on tactics and strategy is needed for future attempts to oppose the far right. The EDL are eminently beatable. They are not huge. They have a lot of fair weather support that fizzles away to nothing when conditions do not favour them. They had dwindled down to next to nothing before Rigby’s death. The far-right has been chased off the streets before – they can be again.

solidarity with all those opposing racist and fascist views today

Up and down the country today there will be protests and counter protests involving the BNP and the EDL. We must mobilise to oppose racism, fascism and all forms of division in our society the best we can. A clear class position must be taken to oppose these groups. A WOOLWICH demonstration by the BNP over the death of soldier Lee Rigby has moved to central London after police banned the original event. Members had planned to meet near Woolwich Barracks where the soldier died, before moving on to Lewisham Islamic Centre. But yesterday the Met Police ordered that the march should move to central London and could not take place in Woolwich, saying anybody taking part in the area could be arrested. Leader Nick Griffin initially threatened to defy the ban but has now announced his supporters will meet near Westminster instead. A counter protest by Unite Against Fascism, which had been due to meet at midday in General Gordon Square, will also now move to Downing Street. Asked if Mr Griffin might still come to Woolwich, Simon Darby from the BNP said: "If you know Nick like I know Nick, you wouldn't rule against it." Lewisham NUT had planned to meet at the Islamic centre but have now also cancelled their event. Secretary Martin Powell-Davies said: "Lewisham NUT understands that there is likely to be a counter-protest against the BNP/EDL march in Central London that those that were intending to rally in Lewisham may wish to attend. The trade union movement also needs to urgently organise against the increased racism in the wake of the Woolwich killing. A number of racist attacks on mosques have taken place in the last few days. The racist hooligan English Defence League (EDL) were previously in complete disarray after they were prevented from marching in Walthamstow, north east London, last year by a mobilisation of the local community (in which the Socialist Party played an important role). Woolwich, however, has given them a new lease of life. Up to 1,000 EDL supporters protested by Downing Street on 27 May. The far right racist British National Party (BNP) is also attempting to use the killing to resuscitate itself and has called a demonstration in Woolwich for Saturday 1 June. There is a danger that some white youth - also facing the nightmare of unemployment and poverty - can turn to the racism of the far right. It is absolutely correct that the local Greenwich Unite branch is initiating a counter-mobilisation to the BNP, calling for working class unity against terror, racism and war. It is important that whatever you’re doing in some shape or form opposition to the racists and those who seek o divide us must be opposed. I send my full and undivided solidarity to all protests taking place against these up and down the country. We cannot allow for racist and fascist ideas to take a hold in this country. We have already seen UKIP pick up big votes and the BNP in 2009 let’s put a stop to it now and organise a real alternative to the misery of austerity and privatisation for good.

Taking on the far right, why we must get serious

Over the weekend and last week there has been a upsurge in racist attacks and the likes of the EDL seem to have seen a increase in their numbers whilst this may be a temporary increase we still must be rigorous in our opposition to all forms of racism and any form of fascism be that on the streets with the likes of the EDL or through the state. Racism is something we cannot take lightly and we must look to confront it wherever and whenever it rears its ugly head. I thought I’d re cap on the socialist party and formally Militants attitude to fighting the far right and our strategies we look to push for. There is the popular front model the likes of the SWP and the UAF look to push with tries to unite everyone whether you’re a labour party MP or councillor who has just made cuts or religious figures celebrities the lot unity for the UAF is something which just means getting everyone together then we can all stop the fascists they tell us. For the SWP fascism is always on the verge of taking over they have to up hold this line as UAF would cease to exist if they actually told us that fascism isn’t about to take over but we must be on our guard against it and any forms of racism. Looking back to last year’s EDL demonstration in Walthamstow which I think is a good place to look at and how the community organised and how the socialist party saw things at the time and our disagreements with the UAF and the SWP. The first was the political basis of the campaign. We all agreed on the need to mobilize the biggest opposition possible to the EDL, and we were all prepared to link arms with anyone on the day to oppose them. However, Socialist Party members argued that the most important force to mobilise is the working class, and in particular the organised working class in the trade unions. Deepening austerity means that there is the potential for the EDL, or a force like it, to grow, unless the campaign against them is united with the campaign to stop the cuts. Hundreds of thousands of workers have lost their jobs; millions more are hit by attacks on their pensions and the public sector pay freeze. Benefits are being stripped away, while essential services are slashed. Yet 85% of the cuts are still to be implemented. We are told that the cuts will continue until at least 2020. When fighting the EDL we need maximum unity. All sections of our communities have an important part to play. But it is a massive, united campaign of working class people that has the power not only to marginalise and smash groupings like the EDL, but to hold out hope in a real future to those small layers of people who might be attracted by them. The big events of 2011(the 26 March TUC demo, 30 June and 30 November public sector strikes) and the 10 May strike in 2012, all show that the organised working class in the trade unions has the power to mobilise masses of people in decisive action. The trade unions should be at the heart of any fight against the EDL, making it clear that they stand firmly in the interests of defending all sections of our communities against austerity attacks. Yet under the SWP leadership of 'We are Waltham Forest' the trade unions only played a peripheral role. It would take preparation, but the serious mobilisation of firefighters, bin workers and so on in the borough would have had an even greater impact on the ability of the EDL to march. In fact the SWP insisted throughout that the campaign could not take up these class issues against cuts. But it’s the SWP’s welcoming of pro cuts labour representatives which isn’t helpful we find. The Socialist Workers Party argued that in order to achieve maximum unity against the EDL the campaign should not introduce issues that might alienate some people, and 'not everyone is against the cuts'. In particular this referred to Labour councillors who implement cuts and Labour MPs who do not oppose cuts. The argument went that many people have joined the Labour Party recently and still vote Labour, and so Labour's involvement would draw more people into activity. If the campaign against the EDL was also against cuts, Labour leaders would not get involved, so the campaign could not oppose cuts. While of course we had no opposition to Labour Party members being involved in the campaign and mobilising on the day, we argued that it was a mistake to uncritically put up politicians such as New Labour MP Stella Creasy and local Labour councillors as speakers and leaders of this campaign. The reality is that those working class people who vote Labour and the few who have joined Labour are seeking protection against the cuts. It is the policies of the main political parties - the Tory-Lib Dem government and the Labour councillors who pass on their cuts in our borough - that create the despair and division in which the EDL thrives. It is Labour's betrayal of the hopes of masses of working class people that led to nearly 70% of the electorate not voting for anyone in the 2012 council elections. Labour politicians' uncriticised involvement could put off many workers whose jobs and livelihoods have been torn away. In fact, the Labour council encouraged people not to take part in the counter-demonstration. They even failed to put up any real opposition to the EDL planning its rally in front of the Town Hall, claiming they had no powers to stop them - despite having previously tried to stop anti-cuts campaigners holding stalls in the town square! But the growth of the far-right in some European countries is a clear warning as to what could develop in Britain. In Greece the lives of millions of working and middle-class people have been shattered and the social consequences have been devastating. Public sector workers have seen wages slashed by 40%. Many workers are paid starvation wages of €400 per month. The number of hospital beds is being slashed by 50%. Thousands of schools have been closed down. Many thousands have become homeless. Unemployment is over 21%, - 51% amongst youth. In these conditions the neo-fascist Golden Dawn has achieved 7% of the vote in the general elections in May and June. This is despite their violent terror tactics: attacking left-wing MPs on television and attacking left-wing campaign stalls; hospitalising and murdering immigrants in pogroms while the police stand by. In France, for the first time in 24 years, the far-right Front National won two seats in June's elections to the national assembly, with 13.6% of the vote. In Hungary the right wing government allows the "Garda" bands of neo-fascist Jobbik to rampage the streets terrorising people and driving Jews out of villages. Of course, in Britain the development of the far-right has not reached such proportions. The British National Party (BNP) made some electoral inroads up to 2010 but since then has lost those positions, having been riven with internal strife and successfully opposed in local communities. But we think there is a need for an honest and democratic debate in the trade unions and anti-racist movement about the ideas and methods necessary, not just to defeat them one protest at a time, but to defeat them long term.

Is the far right on the move in Europe ?

With the shocking attacks on a Norweigian Labour party youth summer camp this weekend where so far 92 youths have been shot dead on a remote island investigations continue of course. We pose the question is far right groups and feeling on the rise again in Europe. This may come as a surprise to many but not to me and many other socialists on the left right now. When a economic down turn happens and finances get squeezed as we are seeing right now people tend to either turn towards the labour movement or this other movement of trying to divide us and blame a lot of it on imigration and religious cults and extremeism.

Lets be clear none of these tactics to divide workers and the working class will work as at the end of the day the working class will know the difference between righta nd wrong. But is a stark warning to us in the labour and trade union movement to get a move on and offer a alternative to the pro captailist austerity we see today.

We will increasingly see workers pitted against other workers in order to divide the movement . Since the tories lost heavily on June 30th which has been conveniently forgotton by the ruling class due to other more pressing issues apparently like the phone hacking scandels an the murdochs grip on power. Which dont get me wrong is big news and spreads far and wide but ith as given the government a chance to get off from the June 30th sstrikes which they were beaten hands down on every arguement they came out with on that day.

It was a massive sign of strength from the organised working class and trade unions. Even if not labour affiliated unions it was still a big sign of strength and sign of things to come hopefully.

But further far right influence has been happening across Europe this month too after the ban in France of Muslim burka's worn by women we see now that in Belgium which i always considered a passive and tolerat country has enforced a similar ban on womens head garments .

This will only increase tensions in communities and marginilise communities unfortunatly.

A law has come into force in Belgium banning women from wearing the full Islamic veil in public.

The country is the second European Union nation after France to enforce such a ban. Offenders face a fine of 137.5 euros (£121; $197) and up to seven days in jail.

Two women who wear full veils launched an immediate court challenge, saying the law is discriminatory.

France, home to Europe's biggest Muslim population, enforced its ban in April.

Belgium's law bans any clothing that obscures the identity of the wearer in places like parks and on the street.

It was passed almost unanimously by the lower house of parliament in April 2010.

MPs voted with only two abstentions to back the legislation on the grounds of security, to allow police to identify people.

Other MPs said that full face veils such as the burka or the niqab were a symbol of the oppression of women.


Very few Muslim women actually wear full veils in France and Belgium But critics of the law say it could end up excluding women, leaving those who do wear the full veil trapped in their homes.

And they say the measures are over the top - estimates suggest only a few dozen women wear this kind of veil in Belgium, out of a Muslim population of about half a million.

"We consider the law a disproportionate intrusion into fundamental rights such as the freedom of religion and expression," Ines Wouters, the lawyer representing the two women challenging the ban, told the newspaper La Libre.

She has taken their case to Belgium's constitutional court, where she will request a suspension of the law, AFP news agency reported.


Only today after this attack in Norway on organised workers wanting to protest and oppose racism we hear of even more troubles in Luton wher a horrific incident has happened.

Racists have attacked a mosque in Luton, breaking windows and leaving spraypainted graffiti including a swastika and the initials ‘EDL’.

The incident is the latest in a string of arson and vandalism attacks on mosques in towns where the English Defence League – an organisation of racists and fascists – is active.

The EDL was formed after a mob of masked racist thugs ran rampage through Luton in 2009 and its leadership is based there.

The Madinah mosque in Oak Road, in Luton’s Bury Park area, was attacked in the small hours of Friday morning.

The mosque’s imam, Shahid Ahmed, told the Socialist Worker newspaper about the attack. He said:

We locked up the mosque at 11.30pm on Thursday night, everything was fine. When I returned at 4am for morning prayers I found the windows smashed.

The words ‘EDL’ were painted on both sides of the mosque and a symbol [swastika] was also painted on one wall.

Dave Barnes from Luton UAF went to offer solidarity to the mosque after the attack. He says:

We have to stand united against racism. This attack has made us even more determined to organise to get as many people as possible to Tower Hamlets on 3 September to take part in the national protest to stop the EDL marching through the heart of London’s Muslim community.

The picture shows plastic sheeting over one of the broken windows. The graffiti has been painted out (whiter area to left of covered window).


there has been further troubles this week

One year after the closure of Refugee Migrant Justice (RMJ) in June 2010, the other main UK provider of free legal advice and representation to asylum seekers and migrant workers has now also been shut down. On 11 July 2011, over 200 workers at the Immigration Advisory Service (IAS) were told that their employer was in administration.

IAS workers were organised by the GMB union. Tentative links had been made by RMJ union reps with IAS reps going back a number of years. The experience of our struggle to defend RMJ from closure was no secret. However, on 15 November the GMB announced that 82 jobs at the IAS were also at risk.

So why was no attempt made by GMB and some on the left to draw the necessary conclusions from the closure of RMJ? A potentially successful industrial struggle against the closure of IAS could have been waged.

RMJ closure
Following on from changes made in the way legal aid was paid under the Labour government, Ken Clarke, the Con-Dem minister for justice, completed the job and sent in the administrators to close the RMJ in June 2010. Eleven offices of the RMJ across the country were closed, with the loss of 343 dedicated and highly skilled workers leaving some 12,000 clients without legal representation. Many clients then disappeared through fear that they would be returned to their country of flight and to torture and persecution.

RMJ Unite reps organised a demonstration outside the offices of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in London. Calls were made at that demo by two RMJ Unite reps to occupy the RMJ head office, supported by the national Unite official, and also to forge links with the PCS union in the MoJ.

However, a call to organise a meeting of union reps to discuss this proposal was ignored. Due to a naive attachment to legal niceties a decision was made, during a meeting between lawyers with "experience of occupations" and some London-based union reps, to not occupy but instead "build a broad based campaign". This decision was made without the involvement of union reps and members in other offices.

Fight all cuts!
An occupation of the RMJ head office with the continuing provision of free legal advice, together with a call to the wider trade union movement and the refugee community itself for financial and other support, would have provided a beacon of resistance to cuts in legal aid. This would have been a concrete defence against attacks on the poor, vulnerable and dispossessed under the Con-Dem onslaught. Indeed, some not for profit organisations and charities also under threat were waiting in anticipation for a lead on how to fight anticipated cuts.

Our unsuccessful struggle to defend the RMJ was the first skirmish in a battle against a divided but intransigent Con-Dem government. But the lessons of our struggle must not be lost. No 'broad based' campaign can replace a determined working class struggle to defend our jobs and services.

If we learn the lessons of past struggles the question is not whether we can beat this government but with what do we replace it.
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On 9 July, the divisive, far-right English Defence League (EDL) planned to 'invade' several towns and cities to hold marches. Socialist Party members were part of the mass opposition that attempted to mobilise against the EDL's poisonous ideas. In Plymouth the Trades Council, which comprises local trade union branches, organised a 'festival of diversity' that attracted 500 people.

The Socialist Party marched under the slogan: "Jobs, homes and services not racism!" We aimed to show to the people of Plymouth that there is a real socialist alternative to the far-right politics of hatred.

In Halifax, where the EDL also 'invaded', socialists stood firm in arguing with EDL members who tried to accost them and managed at least to make some of the marchers consider what they were saying.

Unemployment, poverty, lack of decent social housing and the harsh effects of savage Con-Dem cuts to jobs and services are the breeding ground for people to be targeted by the racist EDL. The Socialist Party campaigns for policies of job creation, house building and investment in public services and aims to build a real socialist alternative.


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Take over Murdoch's press!

The EDL mass protest in Luton this saturday

So as this weekend draws closer to the 5th of Febuary thoughts start turning to this saturdays mass demonstration in Luton where the EDL - the English Defence League a hugely right wing extremist group who are very racist are collaborating together in Luton to protest about the influx of asian and muslims into this country. I and other comrades were set to attend this demo this weekend as a counter protest to this protest to show the people of luton they are part of our thoughts and we stand side by side with them in terms of driving out this horrible sick racial tension the EDL love to whip up in areas like this.

As part of the counter protest

Antifascists have organised transport to the demo from more than 40 towns and cities around the country.

Overridden
Sadly, however, the police have given St George’s Square in Luton to the EDL as an assembly point, and have allocated us Park Square by the town centre and university.

UAF is shocked and angry that the police have overridden representations by the town’s MPs, councillors and community groups and trade unions.

But to ensure everyone’s safety we have agreed to hold our rally in Park Square, where will be speeches and live music. A new leaflet is now available for download.

We will now assemble at 12 noon on Saturday 5 February, in Park Square, Luton town centre. UAF is also supporting the mobilistaion to defend Bury Park, the area where many members of Luton’s Muslim community live.


The UAF if you werent aware is the Unite against fascism group set up to campaign against groups like the EDL who seem to feel the need to stir up racial hatrid in our country and other western worlds.

There is a scarey sweap of right wing governments popping up across Europe be it from Austria to Sweden the trend is worrying and the balance does need to be addresssed.

I as you may or may not know am very anti racist and will stand up against it whenevera nd wherever i can. I find it sub human and totally offensive even when i recieve racist jokes. i do not find them the least bit funny and only add to people like the evil EDL and the BNP's claims that racism is something we all area nd can all tolerate. Not true some of us have our skin crawling at the thought we canta ll live together in peace and harmony and become a multi cultural society like we can.

So as i cant make this protest this weekend as i've been advised to give it a miss due to the unpredictable nature of the protest and the EDL could just kick off at any moment i will be watching proceedings closely from home. But i will be no less interested in events in Luton and to other comrades i know attending. This is a major event in our area and something major attention and the right attention showing these low lifes up for who and waht they are.