AS trade unionists prepare to come together for this weekend’s national anti-racism conference, the government’s racist offensive means the stakes for anti-racists are higher than ever. And the far-right haven’t gone away.

Last weekend, “Tommy Robinson” and hundreds of his far-right and fascist supporters descended on Telford, Shropshire, to sow division and peddle their hatred, racism and Islamophobia. 

Hundreds of anti-racists, anti-fascists, trade unionists, socialists and communists came together to oppose them. 

Despite attempts to portray themselves as defenders of the so-called “white working-class,” Robinson and his fascist thugs attack trade unionists and socialists as well as Muslim, African, Caribbean, Asian, LGBT communities and all those who stand for a free and democratic society. 

Robinson supporters violently attacked RMT assistant general secretary Steve Hedley in July 2018 and attacked RMT train guards on strike in Manchester in January 2019. 

His supporters have also attacked mosques, Sikh gurdwaras and individuals such as Owen Jones. The far right has also attempted to attack Unite the Union regional offices in Liverpool. The long list of those attacked by the far right illustrates the need for broad unity against racism and fascism.

Electorally the far right is continuing to grow in Europe. In the recent general election in Portugal on Sunday January 30, far-right Chega received 12 seats, with over 7.2 per cent of the vote after receiving only one seat and 1.3 per cent at the last election. 

During the election campaign Chega stoked up racism towards the Roma community. 

In Britain at the 2019 general election, Tommy Robinson called for a vote for Boris Johnson’s Tories. It’s not hard to see why. The Tories’ agenda on racism would make Enoch Powell proud. 

In just over two years this current Tory government has attacked the Black Lives Matter movement, commissioned a report denying the existence of institutional racism and launched a propaganda campaign to deny structural racism is the root cause of disproportionate Covid deaths and hospitalisations. 

It also sacked former Tory minister Nusrat Ghani MP for being Muslim, shamefully attempted to turn away boats full of vulnerable refugees in the Channel and introduced the Nationality and Borders Bill. 

Racism is increasing in society. Recent statistics show a 12 per cent rise in racist attacks and that racist hate crimes comprised 75 per cent of hate crimes overall. 

In the last two years there’s been a staggering 50 per cent increase in racist attacks on Chinese, east and south-east Asian communities. 

The recent report, The Dinner Table Prejudice: Islamophobia in Contemporary Britain, by Birmingham University and YouGov, is probably the most comprehensive study on Islamophobia in Britain. 

This report found that 23.2 per cent of people from upper and lower middle-class social groups harbour prejudiced views about Islamic beliefs compared with 18.4 per cent of people questioned from working-class groups. 

It found the British public is almost three times more likely to hold prejudiced views of Islam than they are of other religions. 

Muslims are Britain’s second “least-liked” group, after Gypsy and Irish Travellers, with 25.9 per cent of the British public feeling negatively towards Muslims.

The report suggested a lack of public censure for Islamophobia, citing the example of Conservative MP Nadine Dorries supportively tweeting remarks made by Tommy Robinson, as one reason why prejudice was so widespread. 

All workplaces operate within this growing climate of racism. Recent examples of racism in the workplace illustrate the importance of today’s conference. 

A police officer at the Metropolitan force was promoted from constable to sergeant, despite failing to report misconduct regarding racist and misogynistic messages within the force. 

Messages were shared among 19 police officers mainly based at Charing Cross police station regarding deaths of black babies, the Holocaust, and raping and hitting women, prompting calls for Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick’s resignation and action to eradicate racism, sexism and homophobia from the police force. 

Racism is also deeply rooted in the NHS. Chair of the British Medical Association (BMA) Dr Chaand Nagpaul said the NHS is “riddled with racism,” after a recent BMA survey found that at least 75 per cent of ethnic minority doctors experienced racism more than once in the last two years and 17.4 per cent said they regularly faced racism at work. This is particularly shameful given the NHS’s diverse workforce.

Cricketer Azeem Rafiq did much to expose institutional racism within Yorkshire Cricket Club. However there has been reluctance by the English Cricket Board to take proper action against racism despite over 4,000 complaints. This is hardly surprising given the government’s approach to racism. 

Instead of taking action to eradicate racism, the Tories’ response to the Black Lives Matter movement has been to fan the flames of racism. This racism is set to worsen regardless of whoever replaces Boris Johnson as Tory leader. 

There are two major national crises. The catastrophic Covid public health crisis, which is forcing us to become accustomed to hundreds of daily deaths, and could see an end to daily reports of cases and the death toll and potentially no renewed legislation regarding Covid by the end of March. 

The other is the cost-of-living crisis, with soaring energy bills set to increase by more than 50 per cent and inflation at 5.4 per cent. 

Both these crises are entirely of the government’s own making. Both of these have and will continue to have a disproportionate impact on African, Caribbean, Asian and other ethnic minority communities. 

As the impact of these crises deepen, the government will increasingly use racism to distract, scapegoat and divide the working class and undermine opposition to its agenda which makes the 99 per cent worse off. 

Racism and attacks on refugees are the government’s go-to policies when in a difficult spot. Hence last week’s announcement regarding the Royal Navy turning away boats of refugees in the Channel, after the PCS union threatened strike action against Border Force staff intervening. 

We must resist this Tory racist offensive and trade unions must continue to be at the heart of this fight. Racism in the workplace is a product of racism in wider society.

I am delighted that so many trade unions are taking part in today’s Fighting for Anti-Racist Workplaces online conference organised by the TUC and Stand up to Racism. 

Speakers include Unison general secretary Christina McAnea; NEU joint general secretary Kevin Courtney; NASUWT general secretary Patrick Roache; TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes; Scottish TUC general secretary Rozanne Foyer; Wales TUC general secretary Shavanah Taj; TUC equality officer Wilf Sullivan and many others.

Sabby Dhalu is co-convener of Stand up to Racism.

To register for the conference go to mstar.link/SUTR-TUCConf.