Over 350 people joined Stand Up to Racism’s AGM today
Over 350 anti-racists came together in London on Saturday to discuss how to turn the tide against the far right.
The Stand Up To Racism (SUTR) annual general meeting had delegates from local groups, trade unions and other organisations.
It came as the British far right is surging. Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is polling at 30 percent and Nazi Tommy Robinson mobilised the biggest far right demonstration in British history in September.
A Labour government is dancing to its tune—and ramping up scapegoating of migrants, refugees and Muslims.
SUTR national organiser Samira Ali said “It can cause despair.” “But I see hope when I see Zohran Mamdani, a migrant and a Muslim, promising a message that to get to any of us, you have to get through all of us.
“I see hope when I see the Palestine movement marching over and over again for justice, in numbers that outnumber Robinson’s demo. I feel hope when I look around this room and see people dedicated to building the anti-racist movement that we need.”
A care worker spoke out against Labour’s new immigration rules that make it harder for migrants to get a skilled worker visa. Many migrants in health and social care and other sectors face the threat of deportation.
“People are losing their families. Their way of life. Their homes. It is institutional discrimination and devalues the contribution of migrants,” she said.
Diane Abbott, left wing MP and president of SUTR, slammed all of those who joined Robinson’s march. “If you are marching behind a known racist, don’t tell me you aren’t racist.
“We have to be prepared to call it what it is. Sadly, the Labour Party don’t want to call it what it is. The trade unions will send their banners on marches but won’t publicly come out and name racism for what it is.
“If you are staying quiet out of fear of upsetting members, that won’t help anyone. The labour movement must be calling them out.”
She blasted Labour, “When Labour copies Reform UK, all we do is give legitimacy to it,” arguing Labour is “preparing the road for Nigel Farage”.
A campaigner from Coventry spoke from the floor about how SUTR can mobilise more numbers. They said, “The Palestine movement is one and trade unions are another. We need to mobilise the large numbers available to us. This is no longer a choice. This is community self-defense.”
An activist from Leeds said that they had been out weekly over the summer to counter the far right outside a hotel housing asylum seekers. On occasions, anti-racists outnumbered the far right, on others they didn’t.
She said, “What made a difference was calling a unity demo, giving time for us to build it, contacting organisations and build a huge level of support. We had 3,000 people on the streets of Leeds. We had 28 different organisation’s banners on the demo. It deepened our roots into different organisations. We are going to leapfrog from one unity demo to another.”
In a workshop on building a local SUTR group, a speaker spoke about organising a local steering group that is broad and represents different organisations locally.
Other workshops discussed how to build anti-racist organisation in the workplace, how to run a delegation to Calais and organising the Women Against The Far Right campaign.
Speakers raised that SUTR is in discussions with national organisations about a wider alliance that can call a national unity demonstration against the far right in March 2026.
Lewis Nielsen, SUTR anti-fascist officer, argued, “The mobilisation in March can put us on the front foot and give confidence to the anti-racist majority in Britain.”
For those who want to get involved in SUTR, go to standuptoracism.org.uk
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