The “Unite the Kingdom” protest organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson on 13 September featured speakers including Steve Bannon and Elon Musk, who chillingly called upon attendees to “fight back or die”.
By Amanda Thorley
Demands put forward on the protest included the introduction of a “remigration” policy, meaning the deportation of all non-white UK residents, regardless of immigration status, and the banning of the expression of any religion except Christianity.
Of course, these ideas do not represent the majority view of working-class people. But while many of those at the protest were undoubtedly committed far-right activists, others were clearly somewhat swept up into the current of fear being whipped up by Robinson, Farage and their ilk.
“Protecting women and girls”?
The claim that these kinds of racist actions are simply about “protecting our women and children” is one that we have seen continually peddled by the far-right. But this claim falls apart when subjected to even the smallest amount of scrutiny. Far from being their protectors, huge numbers of participants in last years’ far-right riots, for example, were actually known to be themselves abusers of women and children. Nearly half of arrested rioters have previously been reported for domestic violence or associated offences. In the figures of those arrested by one police force, this number was a massive 68%.
The truth is, no reliable evidence exists anywhere to prove that certain ethnic groups (such as Muslims, Asians or African immigrants) are more likely to be violent sexual abusers. Girls who are sexually abused are most likely to be abused by someone they know, especially by someone within their own family. If those on the far-right truly cared about the safety of women and girls, one would expect them to be equally outraged about this and keen to find solutions, and yet instead they are strangely silent.
One would also expect them to express outrage over the way women have been left so much more vulnerable to domestic abuse, after years of austerity have decimated the services trying to help them. A shocking 2024 report by The Independent found that six in ten women fleeing domestic violence were denied a place by women’s refuges due to a lack of available places. Combined with a sharpening housing crisis, this leaves thousands of women and children with nowhere to go. In a desperate situation so fraught with danger, this barrier could be the difference between life and death for some women, with the charity Refuge reporting the tragic fact that, on average, one woman a week is killed by an abusive partner in England and Wales.
The far right are a threat to women
Clearly, the far right have no true interest in protecting women and girls, and their real aim is to cynically co-opt the cause to push their own twisted racist agenda. Far from being the ‘anti-establishment’ party that they ludicrously claim to be, Reform’s plan is for a toxic programme of savage welfare cuts, a continuation of austerity, destruction of the NHS and tax cuts for the rich. This policy programme will do nothing to address the deep-rooted issues facing society, and will instead continue the downward spiral of deteriorating living standards for the poorest families, drastically worsening the situation for women and girls already at risk.
At least one Reform UK MP has reportedly had a track record of domestic violence convictions. Of course, this isn’t an issue that Farage has shown any interest in addressing. The racist, Christian nationalist rhetoric on display at the far-right rally was packed with ideas imported straight from Trump’s USA and repackaged for a British audience, espousing the virtues of a patriarchal, ‘nuclear’ family, where a woman’s place is to be a housewife and mother, who submits to her husband in all matters and accepts his God-given status as her ruler and superior.
These regressive ideas risk setting back gains made by feminist and women’s movements by decades, and leaving women even more vulnerable to violence. Gender based violence and sexual abuse are not restricted to race. It is vital that trade unionists, activists and Your Party come together to oppose the far right on the streets, and fight to expose their ideas as racist lies. Ultimately, this means fighting for a socialist alternative that will improve life for ordinary workers, regardless of their nationality, race or gender, and undermine the basis for racist division and gender violence.
