Thousands attend anti-racism marches across UK after far-right threat

14 comments

1. Anti-racism campaigners took to the streets of more than 50 towns and cities on Saturday after far-right riots swept across the UK last week.

   Hundreds of protesters descended on Manchester, Newcastle, Oxford, Hull and Glasgow, while the biggest demonstration was seen in Belfast, with 15,000 people in attendance.

   Meanwhile in London, thousands of anti-racism protesters gathered outside Reform UK’s headquarters with event organisers accusing party leader Nigel Farage of spreading “dangerous rhetoric”.

2. and not a single one will take responsibility for a migrant by hosting them in their home.

3. Interesting these widespread “anti racism protests” has happened twice this week and yet the “widespread riots” have never materialised and no evidence that they were ever a real threat. A dew pockets in the UK rioted and the media whipped up a shit storm. When will people learn to not trust the media?!

4. Professional activists with printed signs. Refugees welcome, but not in their homes or their middle class neighbourhoods.

5. Weird how you can demonstrate without smashing the town up isn’t it?

6. Not anti racism, its anti common sense. Anyone who thinks uncontrolled immigration shouldnt be allowed also should not be deemed far right

7. [deleted]

8. If this is an anti-racism demo, why are they all holding pro-immigration placards, and not anti-racism placards?

   Being against uncontrolled immigration isn’t inherently a racist position, many racists take issue with immigration, not all who take issue with immigration are racists.

9. This is a really positive reaction to difficult and unpleasant scenes… But we really do need to find connections with those living in areas with trouble, and poverty, because it’s very easy to march like this when in comfortable, working and middle class towns and locations, making positive noises, but this will not solve the issues we have.

   We need honest conversations between communities, we need those moderates from all sides, regular people, to connect those dots.

   Describing anyone with Nuance or concerns as racists is just going to make this problem worse .. and drive further division.

10. Good lord. It’s been a week since a conspiracy theory on social media encouraged hundreds of far-right rioters to come out and start looting shops and burning down buildings. Yet this thread is already full of people promoting their own conspiracy theories that these counter-protests have been ‘organised by the establishment’ or have been ‘paid for’. It’s disgraceful.

    Despite the riots they did lead to a refreshing few days on here where every thread *wasn’t* instantly flooded by the most inane far-right conspiracy theorists. But now they all seem desperate to just double down and deflect away from the violence that has just happened.

11. The far right threat that was plucked by the air by Starmer himself because he can’t answer straight questions and refusing to acknowledge that undocumented immigrants are an issue.

    The far right in the space of a 2 weeks seemingly went from 1 riot to like 10 up and down the country to threatening 100 riots to 0. All in the space of 2 weeks. Makes you think if many of them were far right rioters at all and not just people who are angry at the current state of the country and the government not even acknowledging what we all know is hurting it.

12. Wait, are you telling me people can protest without burning libraries and Greggs?

    Damn, I bet those right-wing nutters feel stupid now.

13. Looks like the twats who were rioting last week are back on reddit. Can’t wait to see all the gaslighting and copium these guys will come up with on how people who don’t want to associate with racist thugs are evil and the ones looting shops are the good guys. Mods you have a big job to do.

14. We are stronger together and I think that most of the country opposes the bigots.