“The racially motivated rioting and violence of recent weeks must be a call to arms for the left, trade union and broad anti-racist movements”, Johnnie Hunter told the Communist Party’s Political Committee yesterday evening (13 August 2024).
While noting that many of the convicted rioters have criminal records for assault, theft and looting, and some are members of racist and fascist organisations, he was clear that the riots “did not occur in a vacuum”.
“For more than twenty years, the right-wing mass media have been carrying exaggerated, inflammatory reports about migrants and asylum seekers ‘flooding’ and ‘invading’ Britain, ‘stealing’ people’s jobs and houses, ‘scrounging’ welfare benefits and overwhelming our NHS”, he pointed out.
“Shamefully, mainstream Tory and Labour politicians have echoed these hysterical distortions, making anti-immigrant rhetoric a core part of their election campaigning and passing countless new Acts of Parliament as though we face an existential threat from people whose only wish is to live, work and contribute to our society”, Comrade Hunter added.
As CP Director of Communications, he also condemned the free rein given by broadcasting and social media channels such as GB News and X/Twitter to spread disinformation and conspiracy theories that have helped create a “climate of hate”.
“The ruling class has always been ready to play the ‘race card’ in order to deflect people’s attention from the real causes of capitalist inequality, insecurity and crisis”, he argued.
But he praised recent mobilisations by trade unions, anti-racist campaigns, community organisations and the left to overcome “divide and rule” politics and defend working-class communities, mosques and migrant centres against the racists and fascists.
“These mass turnouts to protect vulnerable communities failed by the police shows the potential for a ‘united front’ not only to reclaim the streets from the far right – but also to fight for left and progressive policies, cutting the ground from under the fascists”, he said.
Johnnie Hunter also warned that reliance on a law and order response from the state would not address the root of economic and social problems which produced the alienation and conditions giving rise to these riots, while “any extra powers given to the unaccountable forces of the state to deal with the far right today will be used against the left tomorrow”.
On the international front, Britain’s Communists warned that the further escalation of the conflict in Ukraine could trigger a wider regional war and even a nuclear accident or conflagration.
The CP Political Committee reiterated its support for China’s peace plan, backed by countries such as Brazil and South Africa, which calls for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations to agree a permanent settlement of Ukraine-Russia relations.
Similar dangers and alternatives exist in the Middle East, the Communist Party insisted, while the mass movement for Palestine needs to be reinforced to end the British state’s support for Israeli genocide.