"The levels of threatening hate and violence should be a wake-up call, not just for government ministers but for all of us. Stand Up to Racism has done its best to mobilise people to tackle this threat, but it's clear that we have to find a new way forward to reinforce this work. I am urging people in all civil society organisations to start talking about the situation and in each sector to start talking to each other."
"I was at the counter-protest at the weekend. I saw first-hand who the crowd attending the far right protest was made up of. It was not people who had boiling-over anger or who were expressing legitimate concerns about immigration. It was pure, gleeful racism. Drunk, laughing and jeering, then belligerent and violent, hurling verbal abuse, smoke grenades and the occasio"
Saturday's Tommy Robinson march produced levels of threatening hate and violence that demand urgent attention. Stand Up to Racism mobilised counter-protests but additional, reinforced approaches are necessary. Civil society organisations are urged to start sector-by-sector conversations and convene urgent discussions about their roles in rebuilding community cohesion. Leading bodies and individuals should initiate coalitions or networks that can coordinate interventions while allowing groups to choose comfortable national arrangements. Different sectors have specific contributions to make. Firsthand counter-protest accounts describe attendees as exhibiting gleeful racism, drunken belligerence, and violent behaviours including verbal abuse and smoke grenades, underscoring the danger.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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