After months of anti-refugee protests in Falkirk, the far-right are now thoroughly outnumbered by anti-racists, reports Lewis Akers

The racist protests outside the Cladhan hotel in Falkirk continue but are in many ways different than we saw 6 months ago. This weekend, and many previous weekends, anti-racists are now thoroughly outnumbering the anti-refugee protestors. 

At the beginning of the anti-refugee protests, the anti-refugee side led by ‘Save Our Future And Our Kids Futures’ were able to mobilise hundreds onto the streets of Falkirk to harass refugees, to disrupt trade union meetings, and follow and threaten anti-racists. 

However, in recent weeks the anti-refugee numbers have dwindled in size and splintered into a number of different groups. Scottish Freedom Patriots, one of the key groups organising in Falkirk advertised an 11:30 kick off for their protest and then didn’t show up, with other groups such as Protectors of Scotland showing instead. 

Despite some who attended being branded as ‘protectors of Scotland’ they were happy to stand with Thomas Kilpatrick, a man who in previous weeks has made sexually explicit gestures towards female anti-racists, and this week branded female anti-racists “fucking rats.” 

One of the key reasons for the splits in recent weeks has been the emergence of accusations of grooming against a key far-right activist, with some defending that activist and others condemning them. This came to a head last Wednesday, with fighting and arguing amongst racist protestors, with one man being arrested as a result of the altercation. 

Alongside the successful street mobilising that the local anti-racist group Falkirk For All have done over the past six months, they have also managed to sow division through a massively successful social media campaign which has documented disagreements between different groups, the attendance of Nazis, and the disgusting behaviour of those attending the anti-refugee protests. Furthermore, this information has been used systematically to make reports to the police which has resulted in a number of banning orders being handed out and key racist leadership figures being banned from attending protests. 

The campaign on social media, alongside the continual presence of anti-racist counter-protesters outside the hotel is directly and indirectly winning Falkirk For All the fight against anti-refugee groups in Falkirk, and those who come from across Scotland to support them. Falkirk for All should be seen as one of the key examples of how to successfully build and maintain an anti-racist street movement which can take those new to activism and turn them into anti-racist organisers capable of standing up, and winning, against some of Scotland’s most notorious racists and fascists.