Brent Trades Union Council held a well-attended organising meeting on Wednesday in preparation for the national Together Against the Far Right demonstration on 28 March, reports Pete Webster

Around thirty local activists from local trade unions, campaign groups (including StW and SUTR) and local organisations came together to discuss how best to mobilise the local community around this important initiative.

BTUC Co-Chair, Mary, introduced the meeting, explaining that it was imperative to build the broadest possible collective opposition to the far right, not just for the demonstration but to establish sustainable networks across the borough. The Together Alliance had already got off to a good start with numerous endorsements from a range of civil organisations and politicians.

RMT activist and YP CEC London region nominee, Mel, described how she had experienced the rise of racist abuse in recent years, both on the streets and, at times, in the workplace too. The threat from Reform and those further right is growing and underlines the urgency to organise.

Steve, a Unite member from Haringey TUC, outlined how a broad range of local community groups and trade unionists had forged the Haringey Community Alliance that was overseen by representatives from each local group. This helped to link up groups that shared common aims and strengthened their campaign. Locally, they were now organising a Unity demonstration in North London on 7 February in preparation for the national.

Local MP, Dawn Butler, also the target of high levels of racist abuse, joined the meeting and expressed her solid support for the Together Alliance and why we needed to reach out to community and faith groups to build sustainable and supportive networks. She also announced a music-centred event to be held in Wembley later in the year and said that this was still at the planning stage.

In discussion groups following the presentations, a number of local initiatives were raised. 

Most immediately, there was a need to start publicising the march, and it was agreed to coordinate group postering sessions as a priority. Publicity materials, including posters, leaflets and stickers, are available from the Together Alliance.

Other suggestions included organising a local march similar to Haringey and elsewhere, mapping and contacting local organisations outside of existing networks and demanding that Labour-controlled Brent Council supports the Together Alliance statement.

Local union representatives were also encouraged to endorse the Alliance at their next branch meetings, not only to fund the campaign but also to organise a good delegation with the branch banner to join the Union bloc at the demonstration.

It was noted that there was a significant imbalance in the age demographic in the room, and this highlighted the need to address this gap. It was broadly agreed that a local focus would be to concentrate on the various secondary and tertiary education centres and accommodation blocks. However, there would need to be a different approach to reaching out to those no longer in education. Youth unemployment is at a high, with around 10% without work in the UK. 

It will be this generation that will be drafted into Starmer’s war machine, to whom we will want to propose a future not based on anger and despair but on hope and a determination for a better future for all.

Looking beyond the 28 March demo, there was an agreement that Brent’s Together Alliance would target those wards where Reform would be standing candidates in the May elections by mass canvassing local residents.

As local activist Nadine pointed out, growth of support for the likes of  Farage and Robinson was not only an issue here but also in Europe and the US. ‘We are facing an international emergency’, she said, recognising the funding being channelled to right-wing populist and fascist organisations by Musk and other obnoxious characters.

This highlights the need to ensure that the  London European Peace Conference in June deepens and broadens the foundation work established in Paris last October. There is a model motion that can be put to your next branch meeting.