On Saturday 23 May, Birmingham Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! held a protest with other local groups outside the offices of the Soho Road Business Improvement District (BID). The protest was against the increased police presence, stop and search and immigration enforcement raids in Handsworth. These racist attacks have been escalated through the extension of West Midlands Police’s so-called ‘Operation Fearless’ to Soho Road and Handsworth Triangle on 13 May.
The demo against Operation Fearless was supported by numerous local organisations, including the Indian Workers’ Association (GB), Kashmir Diaspora UK, Birmingham Queers for Palestine, India Labour Solidarity (who translated materials into Hindi and Punjabi to ensure that participation was as broad as possible), Food Not Cops, Life of a People Project, and migrant rights organisation Regularise.
Despite the heatwave, there was large attendance and loud chants, calling out the British state for its racism, which produced a lively atmosphere and caught the attention of passersby throughout. The protesters, which included many locals, showed their disgust that these ramped up attacks have been supported by so-called ‘progressive’ members of the local government – including Your Party member Ayoub Khan MP, Labour’s Shuranjeet Singh, and the Green Party’s Ed Freshwater.
Khan has bragged on social media about the fact that he played a key role in lobbying for this new expansion of racist policing in migrant communities. At the demo, particular anger was also directed at Freshwater for his hypocrisy, having recently raised supposed concerns about ‘reports from residents of heavy-handed policing’ in a WhatsApp group for Ladywood Greens, despite cheering on the expansion of Operation Fearless on Facebook just weeks before.
The ramped up police harassment and attacks is due to the expansion of so-called ‘Operation Fearless’ into Soho Road and Handsworth Triangle. The operation was trialled in Erdington – a working class community in the north of Birmingham. Since it began in January 2025, the plan has seen over 500 arrests including for ‘anti-social behaviour’ and ‘youth violence’ – often euphemisms for harassing unhoused people and provoking black and Asian young people, respectively.
West Midlands Police already has a track record of violence towards racialised communities, women, trans people, and the working class. Operation Fearless is the continuation of this trend; in fact, lobbying from businesses and councillors has emboldened West Midlands Police who have since started posting videos of their vile attacks on their website: one such video shows proud officers waking up and handcuffing a homeless man on the high street.
The deployment of additional police officers leads to more attacks on migrants, whose lives are already made unstable with coercive threats of deportation, poor quality housing, and appalling working conditions. As always, the police claim that they are there to make us feel safer – hence the name ‘fearless’ – but in reality the police are the attack dogs of the ruling class, ensuring that conditions remain optimal for the working class’s exploitation.
Local individuals in attendance included migrant workers, asylum seekers, concerned residents, musicians, poets, and academics. It was an open mic event to ensure that as many voices were heard as possible. Many spoke on the day, drawing comparisons between Operation Fearless and the sus laws of the 1980s and the Handsworth uprisings, the comparison of Ayoub Khan and the West Midlands Police to Indian occupation of Kashmir, and the history of anti-racist organising in the area. A local speaker also noted that the parks around Handsworth have been almost empty since the Operation came into force, illustrating that the effects of racist policing are deeper than simply higher arrest rates but also create a climate of fear for residents as a whole.
The decision to protest outside Soho Road BID highlighted local anger at the collaboration between the MP, local councillors, and elements of the local South Asian business owners in welcoming increased racist policing into new neighbourhoods. At the demo, RCG comrades made the point that centring the British state in the fight against racism is key because ultimately it is the state which coordinates racist attacks on the working class; the only force capable of administering 60,000 deportations in two years is this racist labour government; Tommy Robinson’s thugs are galvanised by the state’s rhetoric but they are the symptom not the cause.
It is vital that local actions continue in order to strengthen the anti-racist movement on the street. Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! stands in complete solidarity with the people of Handsworth and Soho Road as they face these new attacks and will be holding speak-outs every week: contact @RCGBrum on Instagram to get involved.
