'We need change now'

Unite has called for working-class unity and long-term workplace and community organisation to tackle the root causes of far-right riots over the last week.

The violent riots, which were sparked last week by misinformation propagated by far-right extremists online in the wake of fatal stabbings of children in Southport, have terrorised communities across the UK.

Rioters have targeted mosques, hotels housing asylum seekers, local shops, businesses and even libraries, and some have also assaulted police and other emergency first responders, as well as migrants, Muslims and people of colour.

Unite has condemned in the strongest possible terms the violent disorder, and the racism and Islamophobia fuelling it.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham urged Labour and the trade union movement to not “play into the hands of those who seek division”.

Commenting, she said, “Without unity, the working class cannot make change. Division and blame are the bosses game. It’s time to look up, not down.

“It wasn’t the migrant who crashed our financial system in 2008. It was not the migrant who imposed austerity. It was not the migrant who revelled in Downing Street while people couldn’t bury their dead or who let corporations profit while workers had their pay cut.

“The economic system has failed, Britain isn’t working: rampant inequality, crumbling public services, poor jobs and bad pay,” Graham added. “We don’t make anything anymore and we’ve sold the family silver. When 50 families in this country have more wealth than 30 million of their fellow citizens, something has gone badly wrong.

“We are at a turning point,” Graham went on to say. “We need change now. Not waffle about responsible spending or fiscal rules. None of this talks to the worker or their community. It addresses no issues. It just plays into the hands of those that seek division.”

Graham noted that Labour has “one shot”, warning that if they fail to deliver, “the populist right will emerge ever stronger; the country ever more divided.

“The trade union movement must now step up to the plate. Not just through demonstrations but by building long term organisation across our workplaces and communities. Unite will lead the way.”

Meanwhile, Unite joined other trade unions affiliated to the Labour Party (TULO) in issuing a joint statement on the riots.

“We are horrified to see the devastation felt by all of us, and particularly by those affected in Southport, being weaponised and misused to spread hatred and division over the past week,” the statement read.

“Organised far-right and racist groups have deliberately taken a tragedy, combined it with outright lies and disinformation, and used it to whip up fear and violence. In towns and cities across the country we’ve seen riots, attacks on Muslim and Black communities, and violence against asylum seekers and migrants.

“We have also seen working people attacked while doing their jobs,” the statement continued. “Our police and emergency and public service workers, and those working in retail, hospitality and transport have been targeted with threats, abuse and violence.”

TULO went on to highlight the solidarity community activists and trade unionists have shown and the hope that they can offer.

“The trade union movement is built on the principles of solidarity and unity, and that unity has never been more important. We reaffirm our commitment to building solidarity and uniting working people against the far-right. Now is the time for communities to come together, and for us to remember the words of Jo Cox: We are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us’.”

You can read the TULO statement in full here.

By Hajera Blagg