On 31 October the English Defence League – a racist nationalist organisation – plan to march through the streets of Leeds. They will be opposed, but only by a Unite Against Fascism demonstration advertised as "celebrating multicultural Leeds", rather than promoting workers' unity and self-defence.
Local activists will be there for the UAF demonstration, 12 noon at The Headrow. However, some of them are critical.
A member of the Alliance for Green Socialism whom I spoke to commented that the demonstration should be not "a celebration of anything" but an attempt to "stick two fingers up to the EDL".
A Workers’ Power activist and Unison member said to me that multiculturalism can be "celebrated any day of the week", but "we need an Anti-Fascist Defence League".
The UAF flier asks us to "imagine Leeds United without Beckford, Margues or Showumni. The Rhinos without Jones-Buchanan, Bailey or Lauitiiti." Appealing to the cult status of sports celebrities is not effective anti-fascist campaigning.
Socialists need to be prepared to take on the political threat posed by fascism by raising demands like the creation of decent socially useful jobs to end unemployment, a living wage for all and decent low rental council housing, to be paid for by taxes on the rich. It is both useless and politically dangerous to simply shout "Don’t Vote Nazi" as UAF has done. The working class must also be prepared to defend itself on the streets, by preventing organisations like the EDL from marching and organising.
The recent UAF counter-demonstration in Manchester was not the victory they claimed. The Workers’ Power activist interviewed commented that "claims of victory in Manchester were bollocks" and that "comparisons to Cable Street are farcical".
UAF cannot be our model for anti-fascism and for opposing the EDL. Activists attending the demonstration must argue for organised, militant working class anti-fascism, not a populist showcase.