NO doubt emboldened by the recent electoral breakthrough of the hard-right, Anglo-British nationalist, anti-immigration Reform UK party, which now has five MPs including the ubiquitous Nigel Farage, the extreme right, actual naked fascism, is now on the march in the UK.
Following extreme-right rallies in London, Southport and Hartlepool, all of which descended into racist violence as far-right thugs – the ugly face of British nationalism – attacked a local mosque, an Asian-run shop, innocent passers-by and the police.
Now the far right is claiming on social media that it is planning a further dozen or more such “rallies” across the UK in the coming weeks and months. Many of these are being organised under the slogans "Enough is enough" and "Protect our kids" in a vile and cynical attempt to weaponise the horrific knife attack on a children's dance class in Southport on Monday in order to use it to further the aims of white nationalist racists.
READ MORE: Patrick Harvie: Westminster must stop normalising the far-right
The same slogans were used by far-right rioters in London earlier this week. We should not be surprised by this alarming development. For years the British media, and particularly the BBC, has preferentially platformed the likes of Nigel Farage and his not-so-subtle racist dog-whistling.
In so doing, they have normalised the messages and tropes of the hard authoritarian right with its nakedly racist obsession with immigration in general and Muslim immigrants in particular and brought them into the mainstream of British politics. In so doing, they have created a space for even more extremist right-wing groups and individuals to flourish.
The far-right media ecosystem is alarmingly well funded, with billionaires giving their backing to far-right TV channels and publications and Elon Musk (below) completing the transformation of Twitter into a platform for unfettered racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia and hate-fuelled conspiracy theories. This fuels and enables those on the extreme right-wing fringes, justifies their hatred and emboldens them into action.
One of these far-right rallies has been planned for Glasgow, with the English Defence League and its Scottish branch office announcing a so-called "Stand up for the UK" rally to take place in Glasgow's George Square on September 7, although Glasgow City Council has confirmed that it has not received any application for a rally in the square on that date. But then if you are hell bent on fomenting a racist and violent rampage, attacking Muslims and destroying property, applying for a licence is going to be the least of your concerns.
The Glasgow far-right rally looks set to combine the EDL's vile anti-immigrant racism with toxic anti-Catholic sectarianism, added to which will be the violent anti-independence über-Unionism of far-right British nationalism in Scotland. It's not just Muslims, immigrants and anyone who looks queer who will be the targets of the far-right's violent hatred in Glasgow. It will be supporters of Scottish independence as well.
READ MORE: Richard Walker: In an era of misinformation, it pays to learn
Back during the independence referendum campaign in 2014, Scots were told by the Better Together campaign and its supporters that Westminster and the British state were all that stood between Scotland and political extremism. We were told that left to our own devices, Scotland would descend into a hellscape of racism and intolerance. We now know that it's the British state which is putting Scotland at risk of political extremism and which is bringing far-right racist violence on to the streets of Scottish towns and cities.
Anti-racism campaigners, pro-Palestinian groups, refugee groups, faith groups, trades unions and others have organised an anti-fascism counter-protest to take place in Glasgow on the same day. Organisers aim to show that Glasgow rejects the message of hate and racism propagated by the likes of far-right criminal thug Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, aka Tommy Robinson – who is such an English patriot that he lives in Spain on an Irish passport – and that the city stands in solidarity with refugees and asylum seekers.
Coincidentally, on the same day, All Under One Banner (AUOB) had organised an independence march and rally to take place in Edinburgh. This event has been hastily rebranded as a march and rally against fascism. However, it seems illogical to claim that it's now going to be a march and rally against fascism when the fascists are taking to the streets of Glasgow, 40 miles away. It risks splitting the opposition to the British nationalist far-right and making the independence movement appear irrelevant and self-indulgent.
AUOB should cancel its planned event in Edinburgh and give its full support to the anti-fascist protest planned for Glasgow. Obviously no-one wants a direct confrontation with potentially violent far-right thugs, but a large contingent of independence supporters joining a peaceful and law-abiding protest against fascism would achieve far more than a separate rally in a different city.
The campaign for independence would thus demonstrate that it is willing to participate in a broad front of left-wing and progressive groups and organisations and thus centres the cause of independence in the campaigns against racism, poverty and social exclusion. In so doing, independence supporters demonstrate that independence is not a “distraction” from other issues but is the key to achieving social justice and building a better and fairer Scotland.
There will be plenty of opportunities in future for standalone independence marches and rallies, but by standing shoulder to shoulder with anti-fascists, irrespective of their views on Scottish independence, we not only position the cause of independence politically in an advantageous position, we also make friends and allies, and potentially covert them to the cause of independence too. It sends a powerful message about what independence is for.
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