Back the No to Tommy Robinson, No to Brexit March on December the 9th!

No to Tommy Robinson, No to Brexit!

The far right is marching for Brexit. Will the left stand against it?

Michael Chessum writes in the Guardian today,

The far-right activist Tommy Robinson will march on London under the banner of “Brexit Betrayal” on Sunday 9 December – just two days before the parliamentary vote on Theresa May’s deal. The demonstration represents the real-life, undeniable intersection of the Brexit project and the far right. The response of both the left and the anti-Brexit movement could define them for years to come.

….

Another Europe is Possible has, along with a series of prominent left figures, called for an explicitly anti-Brexit mobilisation on 9 December, which will build numbers for a joint general anti-fascist protest…

But, above all, what happens now is a litmus test for the British left. Brexit means the biggest expansion of border controls in decades. It will vindicate and mainstream the far right’s narratives on immigration and aggressive nationalism. With a negotiated compromise deal in place, signed by either the Tories or Labour, Robinson’s campaign against an imagined national betrayal will go on indefinitely, nourished by the victory of the wider Brexit project.

From the Another Europe is Possible site.

On December 9th, we will rally in Parliament Square. Join us to demand:

• Vote down the Brexit deal

• Give the people a final say

• Stop the far right – defend free movement.

Join the Facebook event here. Share and invite everyone you know.

On December 9th, the day before parliament votes on Theresa May’s deal, the far right will march on London under the banner of “Brexit Betrayal”. We will mobilise, in massive numbers, to combat their message of hate and division.  And we will demand a serious alternative: a society that works for everyone, and a final say for the people on Brexit.

Tommy Robinson is not just using Brexit as a tool to attract followers. Brexit has from its earliest days been driven by the far right, and the far right will benefit from it for decades to come unless we defeat it and the conditions on which it feeds.

 

The far right is growing because the economic and political system has failed us. We need decent homes and jobs, we need a transformation of the economy that gives people control over their destinies.

Supporters include: 

David Lammy MP

Caroline Lucas MP

Manuel Cortes, TSSA general secretary

Ann Pettifor, economist

Mike Galsworthy, Scientists for the EU

Amelia Womack Deputy Leader of the Green Party

Zoe Williams, journalist

Peter Tatchell, human rights campaigner

Michael Chessum, Another Europe is Possible

Nick Dearden, Global Justice Now

Julie Ward MEP

Marina Prentoulis, senior lecturer at UEA

Shaista Aziz, Oxford unites as an anti-racist city and Stop Trump campaigner

Hugh Lanning, former general secretary of PCS

Paul Mackney, former UCU general secretary

Joseph Healy, Left Unity principal speaker

Niccolo Milanese, European Alternatives

Simon Hannah, author and Lambeth UNISON joint Secretary

Neil Faulkner, archaeologist and historian

Daniel Randall, RMT activist (pc)

Don Flynn, migrants rights campaigner

Cllr Graham Campbell, SNP BAME Convenor and SNP Trade Union Group

A dissenting voice comes from  the Revolutionary Socialist group Counterfire.

Lindsey German says,

Another Europe is Possible have called a counter-protest which links opposing Robinson with opposing Brexit. This is unbelievably crass politically. It links Brexit voters to the far right – wrong. It builds up Robinson as the leader of Brexit – wrong. It prevents leave voters who oppose fascism from joining their demo – wrong. And it narrows the number of people who potentially would demonstrate – wrong.

I hope the organisers will think again on this. But given their closeness to some of those who back policies which helped lead to the far right growing in the first place, like Vince Cable and Alastair Campbell, I’m not holding my breath.

Bashing Counterfire is about the easiest sport in the world, but German’s comments are spectacularly stupid even by the groupuscule’s low standards.

German appeared last week on a platform with people who laid a hefty part of the blame for British economic problems on ‘German’ capital and migrant labour.

Counterfire voted, with the far-right, UKIP, and the Tory right, to back Brexit, a major opportunity for Robinson’s politics to grow.

Robinson is now an official adviser for UKIP…..

As Michael Chessum says,

The left now faces a choice. As the far right and the Brexit project intersect, it can connect these dots, and fight against the politics of Brexit while presenting its wider radical vision for society. Or it can stand aside from history.

Update: the following post appears today in the Hard Brexit (Bolshevik) Morning Star today: Don’t play Tommy Robinson’s game

Another Europe is Possible’s separate protest against Ukip’s march on December 9 risks splitting the anti-racist forces on the basis of EU Leave or Remain. Now is not the time for division, says DAVID ROSENBERG

Don’t play Tommy’s game

NOVEMBER 25, 2018 / DAVESREBELLION

I  was a reluctant Remain voter, who, like others, saw what the EU did to Greece. I have witnessed the far-right and right-wing populist forces getting stronger across Europe and fear that the next European Elections will strengthen the most reactionary, authoritarian and racist forces within the EU. I also fear the potential for the far right to become much bigger here. This is not at all the time to split our forces on the question of racism and fascism, so I appeal to Another Europe is Possible to join a united effort to stop Batten and Robinson’s street movement in its tracks.

In other words, do nothing to fight against far-right populists about their opposition to the EU but unite with those Brexit Bolsheviks  in a “united front” when Robinson appears in public to demonstrate against Brexit Betrayal.

There is pretty contorted logic at work here.