Hundreds converged in central London to counter UKIP march “two to one”

~ Anu Shukla ~

Several thousand antifascist locals and supporters gathered in Whitechapel on Saturday (25 October) to oppose a far-right march led by Nazi-saluting UKIP leader Nick Tenconi. Tenconi’s planned march through Tower Hamlets to “reclaim” it from “Islamists” was banned by the Metropolitan Police, however, after mass opposition from anti-fascist groups. He was instead allowed to lead UKIP’s so-called “mass deportations tour” in central London, where counter-protesters faced Section 14 restrictions and several arrests.

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Edit: Thanks to folks who pointed out the SWP/Comrade Delta connection regarding SUTR, it was bad luck that neither the reporter nor sub were aware of it. For more on that case, RS21 have done a lot of background writing and a recent update here.

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Organisers claimed that at the far-right rally in central London, “despite heavy policing, anti-fascist protesters outnumbered UKIP two to one”.

Antifascist protesters began gathering outside Whitechapel Town Hall around 11 before moving along Whitechapel High Street, past the underground tube station towards a mobile stage for speeches of Stand Up to Racism’s Unity Demonstration. “The reason fascists aren’t marching through Tower Hamlets today is because of you”, Shabbir Lakha of Counterfire told the crowd. “This victory doesn’t belong to the Met Police who would have let them march if it wasn’t for us – or to Rushanara Ali, who’s trying to take the credit. It belongs to us”.

There was a strong interfaith presence. At one moment when a Muslim black block prayed on the street. When they started, a queer block nearby stopped chanting and let them prey in focus. It was a powerful moment of community and understanding, even though there was a visible division between both groups.

Organisers said the Met ordered them to close the rally by 1:15pm, earlier than planned — although chants and speeches in the street were allowed to continue for some 90 minutes following Jeremy Corbyn’s closing statement.

A Brick Lane Community Forum member condemned the “double standards” of the Met Police who he said threatened local protesters for wearing balaclavas with Section 60 orders but failed to give this same treatment to right-wing supporters gathering in the same attire to taunt refugees outside the Britannia Hotel.

Earlier, Sufia Alam, of the East London Mosque told the crowd: “Women here live in fear of having their hijabs pulled off and of racial abuse on public transport. We have to stop this together”. She recalled that hate crimes rose 500% after the EDL targeted the area in 2014, adding: “We’re not going to allow that to happen again. To my sisters: don’t be afraid – stand up to hate”.

Samira Ali of SUTR talked about the new campaign Women Against the Far Right, a response to “the dangerous lie that Muslims and refugees are to blame for violence against women. As a Muslim woman, it’s not refugees who make me feel unsafe – it’s the far right”, she told the crowd.

Addressing both the government and far right, Weyman Bennett of SUTR said: “Stop blaming black and Muslim people for society’s problems. Anti-fascism and anti-racism have always beaten you. You’ve seen nothing yet – we’re going to smash every racist, fascist and far-right group. And Farage – you’re going in the bin too”.