This is from the 'Socialist Worker' so clearly they have their own political agenda, as well as the FLA has theirs, but it's an interesting and alternative view.
The FLA shows its true colours in Birmingham - racist and bigoted by Socialist Worker journalists
The FLA revealed its true colours in Birmingham today (Pic: Geoff Dexter)
The
Football Lads Alliance (FLA) marched in Birmingham on Saturday. It revealed an organisation that is becoming increasingly openly racist.
Between 1,500 and 2,000 people joined the FLA march. A similar number are estimated to have joined a separate march by a breakaway group—The True Democratic Football Lads Alliance—also in Birmingham.
The “original” group’s march—led by founder John Meighan—heard openly racist speeches from members of far right organisations, including Anne Marie Waters of For Britain.
The breakaway, supposedly more "respectable", heard from the
Ukip party leader MEP Gerard Batten.
The FLA is lining up with, and promoting, racist and far right figures. The idea that it is a "non-politcal" movement—put forward by Meighan—has now been proven to be false.
Former English Defence League leader, the Nazi Tommy Robinson, was greeted on the march as a hero and a celebrity.
Waters, who was deemed too Islamophobic for the racist Ukip, told the crowd that Islam was “the big problem”. Marchers booed at the mention of Islam.
“I’ve heard it all. The one big excuse—you’ll offend moderate Muslims with your language. Well I’m sorry, but millions of decent British people are offended by this religion”.
She attacked the European Union (EU) as a “totalitarian, fascist tyranny” that had “knowingly and deliberately imported hell on earth to Europe. It has allowed people to be killed and raped on its streets.”
Meighan founded the FLA in June last year following the London Bridge terror attacks, claiming just to oppose extremism. He told the march today, “All we’re doing is standing up to what’s wrong. All we want is a safer place for our children and grandchildren.”
Moderates
But every speaker attacked Islam, migrants and refugees—without pretending to distinguish between “extremists” and “moderates”.
Meighan invited racists and the far right to share the stage with him (Pic:
Socialist Worker)
A speaker introduced as Arlene from German organisation 21 Decibels spoke about “sexual violence against women resulting from uncontrolled mass immigration.”
“Violent misogyny is not some minor aspect of Islam—it is central,” she said. She added, “Calling someone racist for criticising a perverted belief system—as Islam is—is moronic”.
Arlene also attacked the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment. “It seems feminists have more of a problem with white men who don’t rape than with Muslim men who do,” she said.
She dismissed the complaints of sexual harassment victims involved in #MeToo as being simply about “something as harmless as a compliment, saucy comments, or the uneasy feeling after having agreed to do the casting in a hotel room.”
Luke Nash Jones from Make Britain Great Again used the language of the US alt-right, and led the crowd in chants of “We Want Trump”.
He attacked Labour home secretary Diane Abbott as a “racist,” and
Stand Up To Racism as “Anglophobes”.
Problems
He claimed that “Jihadis are being given council houses while our veterans are sleeping on the streets,” and attacked migrants that “won’t speak our language and hate our culture”.
He also said that, “politicians don’t know our problems. They don’t have to struggle for a job because of undercutting by migrants”.
Nash Jones inexplicably claimed that “The Labour Party banned white men from their conference.”
And taking a swipe at what he called “effeminate men”, he began a homophobic and transphobic tirade.
Politicians were “debating whether grown men should be allowed into girls lavatories,” adding to big cheers, “There are only two genders”.
Robinson himself didn’t speak—but was lauded by every speaker. His arrival at the march was heralded by huge cheers and the entire crowd singing his name.
Big sections of the crowd kept singing his name along the short route of the march. These soon turned to chants of “We want our country back”.
As the march finished at the multi-cultural Bull Ring market, marchers began pointing at Asian people and chanting, “Stick your fucking Isis up your arse”.
Both marches together were smaller than the one in London last year. The split between them shows these new formations can be unstable.
But their combined size is still a clear sign that the racist far right has potential to regroup and grow on the streets.
Meighan announced that the FLA will hold its next march in Manchester. It will need a serious response from anti-racists.
Anti-racists take a stand against the FLA in Birmingham Over 200 people joined a protest against the FLA called by Stand Up To Racism (SUTR) in the city centre.
Anti-racists stand against the FLA (Pic:
Socialist Worker)
There was strong support from trade unionist with banners from the UCU, Midlands TUC and several NEU branches. There were speakers from these unions and the CWU.
Speakers from local groups insisted that Birmingham would not be divided and that the FLA was not welcome.
There was anger that striking home care workers could not hold a rally in the city centre because of the FLA presence.
Weyman Bennett, co-convenor of SUTR, told Socialist Worker, "It is very important we stood together in unity today, but the size of the FLA marches can't be ignored. There needs to be a bigger and stronger united movement against the FLA and the racism and Islamophobia they feed on "
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