2 – 16 September 2025

One response to Tommy Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom rally, the largest far-right rally in the history of the UK, has been to call on No. 10 to do more to challenge the far Right and its politics of racism, division and hate. Another has been to focus on actions we can take, independent of parliament and in line with the anti-racist tradition of victim support and community defence, including the recent launch of the anti-racist reporting and monitoring organisation RADAR.

For it is not just a matter of worrying about what might happen if Reform UK takes power (some argue that we already have Reform-lite in government). It is about taking pre-emptive action now, in recognition that power does not just reside in Westminster corridors, but in communities and individuals. If we are to stem the hate, we need to respond to Tommy Robinson’s ‘tidal wave of patriotism’ with a massive surge in anti-racism – starting at a local level. What happens when those who rallied behind him on 13 September return to their local communities, after listening to a platform of speakers who called for ‘remigration’ of migrants and the banning of all public expression of non-Christian religions, and after cheering as, in an act of performative violence (which surely should be construed as support for ethnic cleansing and genocide), a flag representing Palestine was ripped apart on the stage? Who pays the price of so much hate?

As regular readers of IRR’s calendar of racism and resistance will already have noted, the racial harassment and violence section of the calendar has grown exponentially since the renewed summer protests against asylum seekers and calls for mass deportations. On 9 September, a Sikh woman was reportedly assaulted and raped in Oldbury, Birmingham, with her abusers allegedly telling her ‘you don’t belong in this country, get out’. As we go to press, we note that a man has been arrested but released on bail pending further investigation in a case that is being treated as ‘racially aggravated rape’. Children are also being targeted, with a 9-year-old girl reportedly shot by a white man with an airgun in Brentry, Bristol. (Her family are being supported by Stand Against Racism & Inequality.)

In this fortnight’s calendar, we document, in addition to the much-needed counter mobilisations to far-right protests and important initiatives against racist and sexist violence, a small but significant uptick in acts of everyday anti-racism. In an implicit critique of the division fomented by Operation Raise the Colours (spearheaded, according to Hope Not Hate, by a former key member of the English Defence League’s bodyguard team who now runs security for Britain First ), people have carried out simple but effective actions – removing graffiti, including far-right stickers and swastikas and ‘Stop the Boats’ slogans, replacing them with their own messages of welcome. A piece in the Guardian, by an anonymous resident of Faversham who took action alongside others when far-right activists descended on the town, was telling in this respect. As the far Right shows its true colours – targeting Islamic organisations and mosques as well as churches that have shown solidarity with refugees; threatening local people; and intimidating local authority council workers – there is evidence that Operation Raise the Colours is backfiring.