Most counter-protests faced a no-show from the far right at immigration advice centres and solicitors’ offices across the country

Planned far right rallies across the UK failed to materialise tonight (7 August), as thousands of counter-protesters assembled to face them off.

Following the weekend’s widespread fascist mobilisation and last week’s riot in Southport, a target list of immigration advice centres and solicitors’ offices was spread on far right social media with a call to assemble on Wednesday. In response, counter-protests and vigils were organised at most sites, ranging from Aldershot and Bolton to Sunderland and Wigan. Crowds of over a thousand were reported in Walthamstow (north-east London), Newcastle, Brighton, and Bristol, while many hundreds assembled in other cities and towns.

At the vast majority of locations, no far right rally materialised and counter-protesters had the streets. In Brighton it was reported that a small group of racists was vastly outnumbered by their opponents.

In London, “The demo at Waltham Forest immigration bureau was spectacular”, one participant told Freedom, “The turnout was insane. There were loads of police, but if the fascists tried to scare people, the opposite has happened. The phrase of the night was ‘fuck off fascists’. It was all over signs and in chants”.

The no-show left veteran antifascists observers wondering whether the police’s initial arrest sweep had taken in key individuals with the necessary contact lists, and whether many potential participants — having either shocked themselves over the weekend or been caught on camera — had chosen to stay home.

The strangest confrontation of the day was in Aldershot, where a man in a suit had seemingly rounded up a gaggle of teenagers to support him while he bellowed “communist scum off our streets” at bemused locals. Far-right influencers including Turning Point UK and Tommy Robinson attempted, laughably, to claim the whole thing was a ruse while a small anti-migrant demo at nearby Farnborough took place.

Despite the success of the counter-mobilisation, antifascist groups indicated last night they would be maintaining their vigilance over the coming days and weeks, both online and in the streets.

~ Scott Harris