Today saw one of the biggest far right marches in British history. This is an urgent wake up call for us all.
Police figures say Tommy Robinson – a fascist who founded the EDL – managed to get 100,000 on his festival of hate. That is the biggest number of people he has been able to mobilise, and goes beyond his usual base.
Far right thugs rioted in Whitehall, Elon Musk addressed the rally and fascist groups such as White Vanguard and Patriotic Alternative openly displayed their banners on the march.
We are proud of the 20,000 who marched with us against the far right on a demonstration that showed the unity we need to beat the likes of Robinson. But we need far bigger numbers. We need hundreds of thousands.
We face a far right party in Reform UK on 30% in the polls. The Tories are using the rhetoric of the far right. And shamefully the Labour government is making concessions to this rhetoric.
This climate is giving Robinson and others the confidence to build a far right street movement. The anti-racist movement needs an urgent response. There is an anti-racist majority in Britain. We need campaigners, trade unionists, politicians, faith groups and others to need to come together to build the kind of unity we need to stop the far right on the streets and at the ballot box.