THERE has been a lot written as to why the Labour lost the general election, some of which appears to suggest the Conservative Party is either fascist or leading the country in this direction – and voters, particularly those in the north and the Midlands, voted Tory for racist reasons.

The Conservative Party is not a fascist party. No doubt fascists exist within it. Tommy Robinson has said he has joined for instance, as has Katie Hopkins. Today it has right-wing elements – but it always has, for example the right-wing Monday Club. But this doesn’t make it fascist.

It can perhaps now be defined as a right-wing English nationalist party. There are similarities which have been used by some to define the Tories as proto-fascist — populism and scapegoating for example, but privileged elites such as banks, the City and so on have not been attacked and the populist sloganeering amounted to “Get Brexit Done” — which was a response to the failure by Parliament to do what it said it would do in 2017.

Fascism arises as an ideology as a response to capitalism in crisis and to challenge socialist ideas. The ruling class accepts it must give up some of its privileges in order to retain ultimate power. It is the product of last resort. All opposition is suppressed both legally and by paramilitary means. We see this at the moment in Bolivia for example.

The incoming government does on the other hand have an agenda, which must be opposed. It feeds the racist narrative and anti-racists must unite to challenge and oppose such an agenda.

The Home Secretary Priti Patel has already said she wishes to target travellers and introduce an Australian style points-based system. There will major issues for families on a points system — it will both fail our industry’s needs and split up families.

Johnson has made disparaging comments against many people, most recently EU citizens. Such statements have resulted in racist actions and he must be called out when he does so. But as importantly we must challenge his arguments in our workplaces and communities, not shouting from the sidelines. We must unite our class with positive pro-worker anti-austerity demands.

Legislation already in place must be exposed and campaigned against. There are numerous nationality and immigration acts which have resulted in our people being deported including Commonwealth citizens, mostly black.

Not so much spoken about is the exclusion of overseas students. The University and College Union has reported during ongoing disputes that many overseas lecturers have been pressured to work with the threat of work visa removal. Extra safeguards are needed and we should relaunch the campaign against racist immigration laws.

To build unity is never easy but it won’t be done by name calling. It’s interesting that some are now saying people in Labour areas who voted Tory or didn’t vote are racist. Some no doubt will be. But it’s further interesting that these allegations were not made against those people who have voted for Conservative candidates for decades. Some of whom will be racist too.

The most recent reliable evidence from the British Social Attitude survey reports that 26 per cent of people see themselves as very or slightly prejudiced on grounds of race. About 1 per cent are in the “very” category.

This is a stable finding and has only risen when particular terrorist attacks have occurred. This prejudice can often be based on misunderstandings about asylum-seekers, refugees, benefits and housing which is propagated by politicians, the mainstream media and increasingly social media.

To challenge this anti-racists must bring anti-racism into schools and sports for example. Use the Show Racism the Red Card and Kick It Out campaigns, and the Football Lads Against Fascism network.

We need to build a class-based movement, expose and challenge legislation, work in communities and workplaces. Some six million people are in unions — and with friends and family the reach is 18 million. Unions and the TUC have good policies which now need to be enacted.

This means going out to representatives and members with an anti-racist message. Some already are doing this. Employers and providers of services often discriminate, sometimes without knowing it. Job and educational opportunities, pay rates and more show discriminatory outcomes.

Socialism and an anti-racist society go hand in hand. To achieve both means working in our communities and workplaces with a confident working-class campaign. Opposing austerity, strengthening workers’ rights and exposing the Tories’ false promises.