On 2 August Newcastle FRFI supporters joined a counter-demo organised by Stand Up to Racism (SUTR) opposing a racist mobilisation outside a hotel housing asylum-seekers. SUTR’s demo was billed: ‘Stop the far right and the fascists in Newcastle’. On the day, SUTR members and their supporters tried to censor any criticism of the racist Labour party under the guise of ‘unity’ against the ‘fascists’. Ultimately they failed, and FRFI used our open mic to lead chants against Labour’s racism and highlight the need to build a movement against the racist British state.
The racist mobilisation was one of many outside migrant hotels across the country over the weekend. The counter-demo prevented the 300 racists from getting anywhere near the hotel. They were not ‘fascists’, but a group of politically disparate racists answering a Facebook post call out.
SUTR deliberately conflate racism and fascism to restrict the fight against racism solely to the far right, and to distract from the brutally racist measures of the British state, administered by the Labour government. As soon as FRFI arrived, SUTR and Socialist Workers Party (SWP) member Rob Murthwaite approached us to demand we focus our ‘vitriol’ entirely on the far right. SUTR have yet to call a demonstration against the Labour government since its election in July 2024. On the day SWP placards attacking Donald Trump were given out, but none mentioning Labour.
An FRFI supporter asked SUTR if they would have an open mic or allow others to speak. Mez Shah, SUTR co-compere for the event, declined and refused to give an explanation. When FRFI asked why, Shah threatened to call the cops, exclaiming ‘where are the police?’ and ‘remember what happened last time’ – alluding to when SUTR got an FRFI supporter arrested in August 2024 for heckling a Labour politician invited to speak on SUTR’s platform.
The purpose of SUTR’s tightly controlled demonstrations is to censor any criticism of Labour and to ensure the fight against racism is restricted to a political level acceptable to the Labour left and trade unions. So whilst attendees were confronting the racists, SUTR set up to one side and desperately tried to cycle through their set list of speakers: former Labour politicians, trade unionists and community leaders. Former Labour councillor and lord mayor Habib Rahman used SUTR’s to plead with the racists, disgracefully saying that whilst there are ‘a few bad apples’ they shouldn’t generalise to all asylum seekers. This was met with audible disgust by the demo.
Due to SUTR’s refusal, we were forced to set up our own open mic and lead the demo in chants of ‘Labour Party, racist party!’, and ‘migrants have the right, here to stay here to fight!’, challenging the racists. SUTR members routinely approached FRFI demanding we close our open mic to make way for their next ex-Labour or trade union speaker. Some SUTR supporters even insisted we stop talking about Palestine for ‘not being relevant’ to the fight against racism. We maintained we had no choice but to continue our open mic because of their refusal.
After over an hour of their closed platform, SUTR co-compere and former Labour councillor Shumel Rahman flippantly asked if anyone wanted to speak on their sound system, a concession forced by the popularity of FRFI’s open mic and chanting. An FRFI supporter obliged and began challenging the Labour government’s vicious racism. Within 90 seconds, Rahman began wrestling the mic away to silence our comrade, a young woman. SUTR didn’t invite anyone else to speak after this.
Shumel Rahman left Labour in April 2024 after being blocked from running as a Labour councillor in the local elections. At the demo, he announced he had joined the new ‘Your Party’ centred around Jeremy Corbyn. Whilst the new party claims it will stand up to Labour, its supporters will censor anyone who wants to build a movement against the British state. In this it will continue the traditions of organisations such as SUTR, SWP, and the trade unions, who are determined restrict the fight against racism to the far right and prevent it from challenging British imperialism or the British state, run by Labour.
