Isn’t it time we banned such marches as the ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally, given the thuggery and lawlessness which ensued? A hate-fest organised by the fascist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Hitler. No fewer than 528 arrests, 50 of which were for possession of a weapon and 21 for crimes of a sexual nature. It would seem that this demonstration was undertaken by heavily tooled-up Nazi pervs. It is shocking that we should allow it on our streets.
Oops, forgive me. I’ve got my facts wrong. I had all the arrest figures written down on a piece of paper. Then, when coming to write this article, I picked up the wrong piece of paper. Those arrest figures above are for the Notting Hill Carnival, a yearly expression of joyous diversity and of rich cultural significance not merely to black British Londoners but, in a very real sense, to all of us, which is why we are so anxious to attend.
The number of arrests for the Unite the Kingdom rally was precisely 25, none of them – so far as I can ascertain – for crimes of a sexual nature. But then it did rain a little, which may have dampened the toxic libido of all those fascists. Also, according to most of the media, everyone on the march was male so you wouldn’t expect much in the way of sexual shenanigans unless they were homosexual fascists.
Anyway, forget the figures for a moment. This march was purely about one thing – racism. How do I know that? Because Diane Abbott attended and said it was. In a lengthy column in the Guardian she wrote: ‘The kind of people who were marching usually take exception to being called racists. But it is hard to know what else to call those of them who gathered in the capital to demand mass deportation and insist that black and brown men are a unique threat to white women.’
Now, OK, given that this is Diane Abbott we are talking about, it may well be that she turned up to the wrong march in the wrong city on the wrong day. But this is an issue that Diane knows a lot about, remember. It is rare for Diane to go much more than a day without accusing someone of racism. And she was present at the march as part of the 5,000-strong posse of Stand Up To Racism counter-protestors. Trades unions forked out for the cost of transport, so if you were a social justice warrior, or even if you were not, you could have a fun day out in London, shout at the fascists and then take in a show, all nicely subsidised.
I heard lots of people from Stand Up To Racism being interviewed by the TV and radio journos, explaining why they were there. It is OK to interview them, because they are not fascists, you see. Stand Up To Racism is a branch of Unite Against Fascism (UAF), which was set up by and remains linked to the Socialist Workers party. The SWP wishes to overthrow the government of our country even by violent means, believing there is no parliamentary road to socialism. The SWP has in the past supported the IRA/Sinn Fein and of course Palestine Action.
In interviews they were treated as if they were just nice people who wished to express warmth for asylum seekers
Let’s meet a few of the people who, besides Diane, have played a prominent role in Unite Against Fascism. There is Martin James Smith, for example, a former national secretary of the SWP before he was forced out of the party in 2013 having been accused of sexual assault (an accusation he denied). Or how about Azad Ali? Ol’ Azad is a star turn. He was elected as vice-chair(man) of UAF in 2012 and he believes the 2008 jihadist attacks upon Mumbai and the 2017 jihadist murders on Westminster Bridge were not terrorism. He has described al Qaeda as a ‘myth’ and written approvingly of Osama bin Laden’s mentor Abdullah Yusuf Azzam. He has threatened a journalist and delivered himself of his views on democracy: ‘Democracy, if it means at the expense of not implementing the sharia, of course no one agrees with that.’ He has also supported the killing of British soldiers overseas, quoting on his blog: ‘If I saw an American or British man wearing a soldier’s uniform inside Iraq, I would kill him because that is my obligation… I respect this as the main instruction in my religion for jihad.’
It is hard to think of someone who could be more culturally, politically and religiously at odds with everything that the United Kingdom stands for, or stood for. Incidentally, UAF seems to be rather relaxed about Islamic fascism, having said that there is ‘no such thing’.
Then there’s the former trade unionist Hugh Lanning, who was banned from Israel eight years ago on account of his alleged ties with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas and support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.
One could go on and on. And yet such is the naivety of the broadcast media that the groups linked to these characters are treated almost as if they are not political at all, simply a convocation of charming people who want us all to be kinder to each other and entirely neutral in the debate as to where our country goes. Try running that idea past Azad Ali.
I was not on that rally on Saturday. I am no fan of Tommy Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley Pinochet-Bastard) and fear his presence makes it all too easy for politicians to dismiss the legitimate objections about freedom of speech and immigration from people who are simply concerned patriots. But given a choice between Robinson and Stand Up To Racism, I know what side I’m on.
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