Category: Freedom of Movement

STOP THE WAR AGAINST IRAN NOW!

STOP THE WAR AGAINST IRAN NOW!

Defend Iran Against Imperialist War

Defeat Trump & Netanyahu’s Fascist/Zionist War Drive

Build Workers’ Action in Offices, Factories & Ports to Boycott Arms Trade with the US & Israel

Stop all UK government cooperation with Trump’s War against Iran

All British Armed Forces out of the Middle East & Mediterranean

To fight Racism & Fascism anywhere we must fight for real refugee & immigrant rights in Britain– Free Movement! Open the Borders

The Iranian People Have the Right to Determine Their Future

The US/Israeli War is a Failing Attempt at Recolonization, NOT Liberation – the Iranian People Know it and Reject it            

28/03/2026

Trump and Netanyahu’s unprovoked war against Iran has raised the specter of demented fascism, genocidal Zionism, and total war – And the whole world shudders. The Middle East becomes even more unstable. The long-standing crisis of the global capitalist economy deepens. Resolving the worldwide climate crisis of a world tied to oil & gas is delayed again, to an even more distant future. The poor and oppressed become poorer, sicker, and more oppressed. The ruling classes of every country buy more armaments, paid for by more cuts to whatever educational, social and health services are left.

However, from the very start of this war, Trump & Netanyahu have met with far greater, better prepared, and more creative resistance from Iran than they ever thought possible. Iran’s strength is already exposing differences between their agendas: Trump’s focus is on asserting his self-image as the world’s dominant fascist ruler; for Netanyahu, the attack on Iran is a long-planned stage in the long war for Israeli control & occupation of the Middle East. The imperialist governments and ruling classes of Europe – the supposed NATO allies of the US – recognize this US/Israeli war as another sign of their declining power and the effective break-up of the NATO alliance. They are hanging back, watching developments, and dithering.

All working class, progressive, anti-racist & anti-fascist organisations must unite in action & fight by any means necessary to end this war, and to prevent our government taking any part in it. Today’s mass demonstration is a show of our potential unity. We must unite to stop the war. We must exploit the divisions & hesitations of the politicians in order to block their inevitable inclination to join Trump’s war. The mass movements for Palestinian freedom and the rights of workers, refugees, immigrants etc have that potential power.

Iran and Imperialism

The war against Iran is an attempt to reverse the 1979 Iranian revolution, which was a major defeat for western imperialism, and for the State of Israel – the principal agent of the US in the Middle East.

Iran has the largest land area and population of the Middle East’s big oil producing countries. For more than a century, imperialist powers tried to carve it up or take control of its politics & its resources. In the 1920s, the British imperialists deposed the old royal family and imposed the rule of the brutally repressive Pahlavi dynasty. When an elected Iranian government nationalized the oil industry in the early 1950s, Britain and the US organised a coup and reinstated the second Pahlavi Shah (King).

Under the last Shah’s notoriously brutal rule, Iran was second only to Israel as the western imperialists’ ally & agent in the Middle East. In 1979 he was overthrown by the people’s revolution. The religious leaders (Ayatollahs) who the Shah sent into exile, returned to Iran. In the turmoil of the revolution, they were able to use their authority to establish a theocratic state which has become increasingly repressive.

Ever since that revolution, Iran has come under increasing pressure and sanctions from the US and its allies. This has caused increasing poverty among the Iranian people. In response, the regime has increased its authoritarian control and turned to Russia and China for support. The regime’s authoritarianism has been challenged by outbreaks of resistance that have shaken its authority, but they have been repressed by its considerable military power.

The imperialist pressures on Iran have done more to preserve its authoritarian, theocratic regime than remove it. The great mass of the Iranian people knows better than to trust the imperialists’ false promises, and they have demonstrated that they have no intention of turning their country over to US imperialism and Israel.

Why the US and Israel Have Gone to War – and How They Miscalculated the Response

For Trump’s fascist regime in America and Netanyahu’s fascist regime in Israel, the current war on Iran is a continuation of their genocidal war and ‘ethnic cleansing’ against the Palestinian people, in order to destroy all resistance and maintain their domination of the Middle East and its resources. At the same time, Netanyahu has stepped up Israeli attacks on Lebanon and occupied the southern part of that country.

The goals of Trump & Netanyahu put the State of Israel in a state of permanent war, which, if continued, will end in self-destruction. It is only possible at present because of American support. They are united by their fascist delusions, which is what makes them – and this war – so dangerous.

For Trump & his declining circle of devotees, this is his fascist war, and that is all it is. There are no rational reasons for this war at this time. It is deeply unpopular in America, even among Trump’s own supporters. This fascist president’s only purpose in going to war against Iran at this time is to demonstrate to the world his unrestrained power of inhuman, fascistic destruction, to demonstrate – not only to enemies but to unhappy former supporters – that their views are of no account, he is King of Kings.

At this point in history, Trump and Netanyahu believed they had an opportunity because the regional influence of the Iranian regime’s was in decline, following the setbacks suffered by the anti-Zionist resistance groups it had sponsored: Hezbollah and Hamas. However,they were blinded to the power of resistance by a people under attack and did not expect the resurgence of Hezbollah.

For the poor & oppressed of the Middle East and the whole world, for all the discriminated-against communities, refugees, immigrant workers etc in Britain, the most positive resolution of this war is the military defeat of the US and Israel.

Workers’ Action Can Stop the War: Boycott All Support & Supplies for War Against Iran

The movement in Britain that has marched for Palestine is still marching. Those who have built the mass anti-war movement of resistance to Starmer’s warmongering, defended Palestine Action, mobilized against fascists, and filled countless courtrooms are now on the streets demanding an immediate end to the US/Israeli war against Iran. Every time we march for Palestine we must be marching for Iran – One struggle! One fight!

All those progressive & anti-war forces in Britain, especially in the trade unions, must now organise boycotts to undermine and disrupt the US/Israeli attack on Iran. We should act in the spirit of the dockworkers in European and Mediterranean ports who have blockaded arms shipments to Israel, and British civil servants who refused to license arms for Israel, and we must act more widely and creatively to stop, disrupt, or undermine the transport and delivery of any form of armaments, goods, services, & communications that could assist the attacks on Iran.

We must demand that our trade union leaders organise this campaign of action, or at least support and defend it, but we cannot wait for them or rely on them. The need for this action is urgent, so we have to organise rank-and-file action groups in our workplaces, whatever and wherever they are.

The Fight Against Fascism

This fight is not simply a campaign against an imperialist war; it is a battle against fascism. A victory for the US & Israel would mean a victory for fascism on a global scale – and further wars. Rich & powerful capitalists across the world are turning to fascism because their economic & political system has reached a dead-end. They have created the greatest levels of inequality in all human history, and they cannot solve any of the huge problems they have created. They turn to the fascists to CRUSH US, to take away ALL our rights & freedoms, to deny our right to free speech etc. That is what Trump is trying to do, and what Netanyahu is doing in Israel.

To achieve power, the fascists use racism, ethnic nationalism, religious divisions, and violent thuggery on our streets – and they use Parliament as well. That is happening now in Britain – it is not “Far Right,” an imprecise term that hides the reality. It is fascism, and to defeat the fascists, we have to fight for the rights & freedoms they plan to destroy – freedom of speech, demonstrations etc, defense against racist/fascist attacks, and fighting for the free movement of people, which is a fundamental human right. Destroying freedom of movement, as Starmer’s government is doing, is increasing racism. Our mass movements should build anti-fascist defense unit, and demand OPEN THE BORDERS.

If we in Britain, as workers, refugees and immigrants, as black, Asian & Muslim people, as poor and oppressed people fight by any means necessary to build significant action against the US/Israeli war machine that is attacking Iran, we will have weakened our own racist, anti-working class government, and struck a major blow against Trump’s fascist programme in the US, and against fascism in this country, across Europe, and in the Middle East. THAT MUST BE OUR AIM.

Join MOVEMENT FOR JUSTICE. We Fight to Win

FERMARE LA GUERRA CONTRO l’IRAN ORA!

DIFENDERE L’IRAN DALLA GUERRA IMPERIALISTA

Sconfiggere la Spinta Guerrafondaia Fascio-Sionista di Trump & Netanyahu

– Per Azioni dei Lavoratori negli Uffici, nelle Fabbriche e nei Porti per Boicottare il Commercio di Armi con USA & Israele

– Porre Fine a Qualsiasi Cooperazione del Governo Britannico con la Guerra di Trump contro l’IRAN

– Fuori Tutte le Forze Armate Britanniche dal Medio Oriente e dal Mediterraneo

– Per Combattere il Razzismo e il Fascismo Dovunque Dobbiamo Lottare per Diritti Veri per Rifugiati e Immigrati – Liberta’ di Movimento!  Aprire le Frontiere!

Il Popolo Iraniano ha il Diritto di Decidere il Proprio Futuro

La Guerra USA/Israele e’ un Tentativo Fallimentare di Ricolonizzazione, non Liberazione – Il Popolo Iraniano ne e’ Consapevole e lo Rigetta

Londra, MFJ alla Marcia Nazionale Contro la Guerra 28/03/2026

La Guerra ingiustificata di Trump & Netanyahu contro l’Iran ha sollevato lo spettro del fascismo demente, del sionismo genocida, e della Guerra totale – e fa rabbrividire il mondo intero. La crisi di lungo termine dell’economia globale capitalista si approfondisce. La risoluzione della crisi climatica globale di un mondo legato all’olio & al gas e’ ancora una volta rimandata a un futuro ancora piu’ distante. I poveri e gli oppressi diventano piu’ poveri, piu’ malati, e ancora piu’ oppressi. Le classi dirigenti di ogni paese aquistano piu’ armament, pagati da piu’ tagli a quello che rimane dei servizi educativi, sociali e di sanita’ pubblica.

Tuttavia, fin dall’inizio di questa guerra, Trump e Netanyahu hanno incontrato una resistenza da parte dell’Iran molto più grande, meglio preparata e più creativa di quanto avessero mai pensato possibile. La forza dell’Iran sta già mettendo in evidenza le differenze tra le loro agende: l’attenzione di Trump è sul far valere la sua immagine di sé come il dominatore fascista del mondo; per Netanyahu, l’attacco all’Iran è una fase a lungo pianificata nella lunga guerra per il controllo e l’occupazione israeliana del Medio Oriente. I governi imperialisti e le classi dirigenti d’Europa – i presunti alleati NATO degli Stati Uniti – riconoscono questa guerra USA/Israele come un altro segno del loro potere in declino e del concreto sfaldamento dell’alleanza NATO. Si trattengono, osservano gli sviluppi, ed esitano.

Tutte le organizzazioni della classe lavoratrice, progressiste, antirazziste e antifasciste devono unirsi in azione e combattere con qualsiasi mezzo necessario per porre fine a questa guerra e per impedire al nostro governo di prenderne parte. La manifestazione di oggi è una dimostrazione della nostra potenziale unità. Dobbiamo unirci per fermare la guerra. Dobbiamo sfruttare le divisioni e le esitazioni dei politici per bloccare la loro inevitabile inclinazione a unirsi alla guerra di Trump. I movimenti di massa per la libertà dei palestinesi e per i diritti dei lavoratori, dei rifugiati, degli immigrati, ecc. hanno questo potere potenziale.

Iran e Imperialismo

San Francisco, BAMN alla protesta “No Kings Day” 28/03/2026

La guerra contro l’Iran è un tentativo di capovolgere la rivoluzione iraniana del 1979, che fu una sconfitta importante per l’imperialismo occidentale e per lo Stato di Israele – il principale agente degli Stati Uniti in Medio Oriente.

L’Iran ha la più grande superficie terrestre e popolazione tra i principali paesi produttori di petrolio del Medio Oriente. Per più di un secolo, le potenze imperialiste hanno cercato di dividerlo o di prendere il controllo della sua politica e delle sue risorse. Negli anni 1920, gli imperialisti britannici deposero la vecchia famiglia reale e imposero il governo brutale e repressivo della dinastia Pahlavi. Quando un governo iraniano eletto nazionalizzò l’industria petrolifera nei primi anni 1950, Gran Bretagna e Stati Uniti organizzarono un colpo di stato e reinstaurarono il secondo Shah Pahlavi (Re).

Sotto il governo notoriamente brutale dell’ultimo Shah, l’Iran era secondo solo a Israele come alleato e agente degli imperialisti occidentali in Medio Oriente. Nel 1979 lo Shah fu rovesciato dalla rivoluzione popolare. I leader religiosi (Ayatollah) che lo Shah aveva mandato in esilio, tornarono in Iran. Nel caos della rivoluzione, riuscirono a usare la loro autorità per istituire uno stato teocratico che è diventato sempre più repressivo.

A partire da quella rivoluzione, l’Iran è stato soggetto a crescenti pressioni e sanzioni da parte degli Stati Uniti e dei suoi alleati. Questo ha causato un aumento della povertà tra il popolo iraniano. In risposta, il regime ha aumentato il suo controllo autoritario e si è rivolto alla Russia e alla Cina per ottenere sostegno. L’autoritarismo del regime è stato sfidato da focolai di resistenza che hanno scosso la sua autorità, ma sono stati repressi dal suo considerevole potere militare.

Le pressioni imperialiste sull’Iran hanno funzionato più per preservare il suo regime autoritario e teocratico che per rimuoverlo. La grande massa del popolo iraniano capisce bene che non deve fidarsi delle false promesse degli imperialisti e ha dimostrato di non avere alcuna intenzione di consegnare il proprio paese all’imperialismo statunitense e a Israele.

Perché gli Stati Uniti e Israele Sono Entrati in Guerra – e Come hanno Calcolato Male la Risposta

Per il regime fascista di Trump in America e il regime fascista di Netanyahu in Israele, l’attuale guerra contro l’Iran è una continuazione della loro guerra genocida e della ‘pulizia etnica’ contro il popolo palestinese, al fine di distruggere ogni resistenza e mantenere il loro dominio sul Medio Oriente e le sue risorse. Allo stesso tempo, Netanyahu ha intensificato gli attacchi israeliani sul Libano e ha occupato la parte meridionale del paese.

Gli obiettivi di Trump e Netanyahu mettono lo Stato di Israele in uno stato di guerra permanente, che, se continuata, finirà in autodistruzione. Attualmente è possibile solo grazie al sostegno americano. Sono uniti dalle loro illusioni fasciste, ed è questo che li rende – e rende questa guerra – così pericolosi.

Per Trump e il suo circolo in declino di devoti, questa è la sua guerra fascista, e nient’altro. Non ci sono ragioni razionali per questa guerra in questo momento. È profondamente impopolare in America, anche tra gli stessi sostenitori di Trump. L’unico scopo di questo presidente fascista nell’entrare in guerra contro l’Iran in questo momento è dimostrare al mondo il suo potere sfrenato di distruzione inumana e fascista, dimostrare – non solo ai nemici ma anche agli ex sostenitori insoddisfatti – che le loro opinioni non contano nulla, lui è il Re dei Re.

In questo momento storico, Trump e Netanyahu credevano di avere un’opportunità perché l’influenza regionale del regime iraniano era in declino, a seguito dei contraccolpi subiti dai gruppi di resistenza antisionisti che aveva sponsorizzato: Hezbollah e Hamas. Tuttavia, sono rimasti accecati dal potere della resistenza di un popolo sotto attacco e non prevedevano la rinascita di Hezbollah.

Per i poveri e gli oppressi del Medio Oriente e del mondo intero, per tutte le comunità discriminate, i rifugiati, i lavoratori immigrati ecc. in Gran Bretagna, la risoluzione più positiva di questa guerra è la sconfitta militare degli Stati Uniti e di Israele.

L’azione dei Lavoratori Può Fermare la Guerra: Boicottare Tutto il Supporto e le Forniture per la Guerra Contro l’Iran

In Gran Bretagna il movimento che ha marciato per la Palestina sta ancora marciando. Coloro che hanno costruito il massiccio movimento anti-guerra di resistenza all’interventismo di Starmer, difeso Palestine Action, si sono mobilitati contro i fascisti e hanno riempito innumerevoli tribunal, sono ora per le strade a chiedere una fine immediata della guerra USA/Israele contro l’Iran. Ogni volta che marciamo per la Palestina dobbiamo marciare anche per l’Iran – Una lotta! Una battaglia!

Tutte quelle forze progressiste e contro la guerra in Gran Bretagna, specialmente nei sindacati, devono ora organizzare boicottaggi per indebolire e interrompere l’attacco USA/Israele contro l’Iran. Dobbiamo agire nello spirito dei portuali nei porti europei e mediterranei che hanno bloccato le spedizioni di armi verso Israele, e dei funzionari britannici che si sono rifiutati di concedere licenze per le armi a Israele, e dobbiamo agire più ampiamente e creativamente per fermare, ostacolare o indebolire il trasporto e la consegna di qualsiasi forma di armamenti, merci, servizi e comunicazioni che possano assistere gli attacchi contro l’Iran.

Dobbiamo esigere che i nostri leader sindacali organizzino questa campagna di azione, o almeno la supportino e la difendano, ma non possiamo aspettare loro né fare affidamento su di loro. La necessità di questa azione è urgente, quindi dobbiamo organizzare gruppi di azione di base nei nostri luoghi di lavoro, qualunque essi siano e ovunque si trovino.

La lotta Contro il Fascismo

Questa lotta non è semplicemente una campagna contro una guerra imperialista; è una battaglia contro il fascismo. Una vittoria per gli Stati Uniti e Israele significherebbe una vittoria del fascismo su scala globale – e ulteriori guerre. I capitalisti ricchi e potenti di tutto il mondo si stanno rivolgendo al fascismo perché il loro sistema economico e politico ha raggiunto un vicolo cieco. Hanno creato i più grandi livelli di disuguaglianza in tutta la storia umana e non riescono a risolvere nessuno dei giganteschi problemi che hanno creato. Si rivolgono ai fascisti per SCHIACCIARCI, per portarci via TUTTI i nostri diritti e le nostre libertà, per negare il nostro diritto alla libertà di parola, ecc. Questo è ciò che Trump sta cercando di fare, e ciò che Netanyahu sta facendo in Israele.

Per ottenere il potere, i fascisti usano il razzismo, il nazionalismo etnico, le divisioni religiose e intimidazioni violente nelle nostre strade – e usano anche il Parlamento. Questo sta accadendo ora in Gran Bretagna – non è “estrema destra”, un termine impreciso che nasconde la realtà. Si tratta di fascismo, e per sconfiggere i fascisti dobbiamo lottare per i diritti e le libertà che intendono distruggere: libertà di parola, di manifestazione, È fascismo, e per sconfiggere i fascisti, dobbiamo lottare per i diritti e le libertà che pianificano di distruggere – libertà di parola, manifestazioni ecc., difesa contro gli attacchi razzisti/fascisti, e lotta per la libera circolazione delle persone, che è un diritto umano fondamentale. Distruggere la libertà di movimento, come sta facendo il governo di Starmer, sta aumentando il razzismo. I nostri movimenti di massa dovrebbero costruire unità di difesa antifascista e rivendicare di APRIRE LE FRONTIERE.

Se noi in Gran Bretagna, come lavoratori, rifugiati e immigrati, come persone nere, asiatiche e musulmane, come persone povere e oppresse, combattiamo con ogni mezzo necessario per costruire un’azione significativa contro la macchina da guerra USA/Israele che sta attaccando l’Iran, indeboliremo il nostro stesso governo razzista e anti-lavoratori, e infliggeremo un duro colpo al programma fascista di Trump negli USA, e contro il fascismo in questo paese, in tutta Europa e in Medio Oriente. QUESTO DEVE ESSERE IL NOSTRO OBIETTIVO.

Join MOVEMENT FOR JUSTICE.  Lottiamo per vincere.

Movement for Justice By Any Means Necessary   movementforjustice.co.uk   movement4justice.bamn@gmail.com
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BAMN – Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality
By Any Means Necessary   BAMN.com   contact@bamn.com   IG/Tiktok: @joinbamn     Facebook: bamnpage   X: @followbamn

International Trotskyist Committee for the Political Regeneration of the Fourth International (ITC)  
Revolutionary Workers League (U.S.)    Revolutionary Internationalist League (U.K.)   itc4.or

British Government Guilty of Racist Mass Murder – OPEN THE BORDERS NOW! The Borders Bill must be stopped or made unworkable by mass resistance.

MFJ Statement on deaths of refugees in the Channel on Wednesday 24 November 20221

The refugees who died in the Channel on 24/11/21, whose true number may never been known, were victims of a politically motivated crime against humanity committed by the British government. Movement for Justice declares that Boris Johnson’s government is guilty of racist mass murder. 

The policies and actions of this government made yesterday’s tragedy inevitable, sooner or later. Its actions have made the deaths of many smaller groups of cross-Channel refugees inevitable over the last three years. The government actually instigated a policy of pushbacks at sea whereby big Border Force boats are to physically block small refugee boats and force them out of UK waters, action so life-threateningly dangerous that even their own officials are afraid to carry it out. 

Of course, they were ready with their prepared responses to Wednesday’s deaths. With solemn faces, they put the blame on ‘people smugglers’ and France. Most of the media has followed that line. 

What hypocrisy! People smugglers are only in business thanks to the racist policies of Britain and other European governments. They are the offspring of Fortress Britain and Fortress Europe. As for France – the refugees were trying to seek asylum in Britain; that was their right, and they died because the UK government used every means possible to deny them that right.

Defeat the Borders Bill – Defeat the Far Right Government

These deaths came as the Government is pushing a new Nationality & Borders Bill through Parliament. This Bill takes the racist, anti-immigrant, anti-refugee Hostile Environment policies of previous governments to new depths of barbarism. It will tear up established rights and safeguards, including the United Nations Refugee Convention. Without doubt it will lead to the deaths of many more refugees and immigrants, in Britain and trying to get here. 

Johnson heads a far right government that sees this Borders Bill as the most important public, political element in a raft of repressive anti-democratic laws. It isn’t just another immigration bill, it is a move towards a more dictatorial form of government – and in reality towards fascism.

That makes the response of most liberal and charity groups to the deaths in the Channel thoroughly alarming. They are calling on this government to establish ‘safe legal routes’ for asylum seekers. The founder of the well-known refugee rights charity, Care for Calais, is even saying that the Home Office should set up a ‘screening centre’ in Calais to decide which potential asylum seekers could go on to pursue their claim in Britain.

Defend asylum rights, no to ‘safe legal routes’

Movement for Justice strongly opposes such proposals. ‘Safe legal routes’ is code for no-route at all. It effectively means ‘off-shoring’ the asylum process – a betrayal. The power to decide who can arrive would be used invisibly and entirely at the will of the political elite. There would be no opportunity for a challenge. Refugees only have a realistic chance of asserting their rights if they are in Britain, with a wider public that believes in the right of sanctuary. 

The government is truly afraid of the presence of determined, bold refugees in Britain, because these are people who took the initiative to get free rather than waste away in despair, as happens to generations of refugees who are stuck in the limbo of United Nations refugee camps. They have the most to contribute and teach the anti-racist communities and the poor and oppressed in Britain. 

That is why the government is so eager to off-shore the asylum process to concentration camps, where officials have dictatorial control to privately pick and choose who they deem ‘worthy’ of asylum, leaving the rest to languish for years in unseen squalor (and perhaps desperately hoping to get a place in one of the UN camp lotteries).

There would be no difference if this policy was operated by a Labour government. Any Labour leadership that implemented ‘safe legal routes’ would be a leadership committed to maintaining the same racist anti-immigrant system. Labour governments have in fact shared responsibility for this system since the 1960s. 

Labour’s current shadow Home Secretary has been attacking the government, not for its racism and cruelty, but for failing to stop large numbers of refugees crossing the Channel. He proposed to work with other governments to prevent refugees getting anywhere near the Channel. Many black, Asian and anti-racist Labour Party members are unhappy with the leadership. They must openly challenge those racist policies, not only in words and conference motions, but by joining the active resistance to make the Borders Bill unworkable.

Open the Borders of Britain and  Europe

Movement for Justice asserts that the only fair and progressive alternative to the persecution of cross-Channel refugees, and the government’s attempts to consolidate a Far Right racist base, is to Open the Borders. 

Opening the Borders is what hundreds of thousands of men, women and children are actually doing around the world because they have no alternative. It’s what refugees are doing in the Channel, the Mediterranean, the deserts of north Africa and on the southern borders of the USA. It will continue and grow because mass migration is a global rebellion against an increasingly unequal and unjust world. It is a rebellion against tyranny, poverty, racism, imperialist wars and global heating.

Open the Borders is not an abstract  demand on the British government; it is a Call to Action for a movement of immigrants, refugees, black, Asian & Muslim communities, and youth. It means building that movement on both sides of the Channel and across Europe, to counter and resist the activities of the Home Office, stop deportations, create real safe routes and build & defend real asylum communities. We must pull down the walls of Fortress Britian and Fortress Europe.

Building that movement is how we can best honour those who have sought freedom and justice and died in the Channel and around the world

Picture credits: Peter Marshall (mylondondiary.co.uk)

After the Election – Build a mass movement to defeat racism & Brexit

Defend & extend the free movement of people – No new immigration controls – Speak the plain truth about racism
Build an independent, integrated, youth & immigrant led movement to unite the struggles against racism and poverty  

Whatever election result awaits us on Friday, some things are certain. Firstly, there is a greater need than ever for a mass movement against the racism and anti-immigrant bigotry that have been the driving force of Brexit. The Tory election campaign has given fresh impetus to racism and xenophobia, while the other parties have stayed silent. Secondly, the election will not get Brexit ‘done.’ The Brexit crisis, and the political and economic disorders that led to Brexit, have not been resolved. Thirdly, the political system remains broken and the two main parties remain divided, while the general population, on all sides, is more disengaged from the present political system than at any time since world war two.

The chief lesson of the election is that we have to build an independent, integrated mass struggle to defend the free movement of people and stop Brexit. The current system can’t fight racism or offer a future of integration and equality. There can’t be an effective movement against poverty and inequality without a real, practical fight to overcome racism – and there can’t be such a fight without black, Asian, immigrant and youth leadership. Building that leadership and movement is the purpose of the Movement for Justice (MFJ).

Free movement banner

Brexit’s test for Labour

Brexit has been a critical test of the Left’s attempt to restore Labour’s traditional role as the party of the working class and a force for social progress. In 2015, hundreds of thousands of people joined or re-joined the Labour Party and propelled Jeremy Corbyn into the leadership. A high proportion were young people. They rallied to Corbyn’s campaign because he pledged to reverse the cutbacks and neo-liberal economic policies, supported the Palestinian struggle and had opposed Blair’s Iraq war. The following year those supporters defeated an attempted coup by right-wing Labour MPs and re-elected him with a bigger majority. They had a strong sense of their collective power to change history.

This year’s manifesto promises to build many more council houses, rebuild the NHS, extend public ownership, and abolish Universal Credit, benefit caps and student fees. It has gone beyond the party’s 2017 election manifesto and represents the party’s most significant break from the ‘neo-liberal’ economic policies of Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and ‘New Labour.’ They reflect the continuing aspirations of the ‘new wave’ that rallied to Corbyn – and they are widely and rightly popular.

However, the most politically significant feature of the manifesto is that it did not repeat the language of the 2017 manifesto that gave an unconditional commitment to Brexit, with the blunt assertion that “Freedom of movement will end when we leave the European Union.” Labour’s members and supporters made those positions untenable.

Labour’s rank-and-file are to the Left of Corbyn and using their power

Since 2017 Labour’s overwhelmingly anti-Brexit and pro-free movement base has become increasingly frustrated by the leadership’s fudging, indecision, delays and parliamentary manoeuvres on Brexit. Even when the leadership finally accepted the idea of a second referendum with a ‘remain’ option, it felt like drawing teeth and was repeatedly called into doubt. Nevertheless, it was the discontent and pressure of the Labour rank-and-file that forced change and encouraged more MPs speak out.

In last May’s local government elections and the elections for the EU Parliament in June, a majority of Labour Party members and supporters felt unable to vote for their own party; a large proportion actually voted for one or other of the anti-Brexit parties. They were not generally leaving the Labour Party, but they ‘went on strike’ against the leadership and sent Corbyn a sharp warning message.

That pressure on the leadership was demonstrated again at Labour’s national conference in September, when delegates sent a strong anti-racist message to the leadership by voting almost unanimously for a motion (Composite 20), that was originally drawn up by the Labour Campaign for Free Movement, calling on Labour to include a set of policies on immigrant rights in its election manifesto. Among these were:

  • Maintain and extend free movement;
  • Ensure the unconditional right to family reunion;
  • Close all detention centres;
  • End “no recourse to public funds” policies;
  • Scrap all Hostile Environment measures, use of landlords and public service providers as border guards, and restrictions on migrants’ NHS access.

Not one delegate spoke against this motion; it was (and remains) a major victory for the progressive instincts of the party’s rank-and-file. Within 24 hours, however, leading front-benchers were publicly playing down the significance of this vote, and Len McCluskey – leader of Unite, the country’s biggest trade union – was soon taking every opportunity to attack it.

It made it clear that Labour’s base and its activists are to the Left of the leadership on Brexit and racism.

The election and free movement

The Movement for Justice (MFJ) brought out an Open Letter to the Labour leadership ahead of the ‘Clause 5 meeting’ where they drew up the manifesto for the current election. It called for the inclusion of the Composite 20 policies in the manifesto, and MFJ members lobbied the meeting. We said in the Open Letter that,

“There are very good reasons why the great majority of black, Asian, Muslim and other minority ethnic voters, youth and students, and significantly more women than men are opposed to Brexit – because it is racist and reactionary and driven by anti-immigrant prejudice. We are experiencing its impact and we will not be silenced while our rights and futures are destroyed by the Brexiteers’ backward-looking, chauvinist project. You, the Labour Party and trade union leadership, cannot stay silent on this. You must listen to our voices. …

“You can’t afford the illusion that Labour will unite ‘Leavers’ and ‘Remainers’ and win this election just by focussing on the NHS, public housing, Universal Credit, privatisation, the minimum wage etc, while saying as little as possible about Brexit or being neutral on it. Such a policy means being evasive, neutral and inactive on the continuing rise of racism and hostility to immigrants. It means ignoring the voices and the experience of black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, immigrants and youth.”

The Clause 5 meeting did not make the Composite 20 policies part of the manifesto. The only direct reference to free movement in the manifesto boils down to a restatement of Labour’s pledge that EU citizens already living in the UK will be able to stay here. Only one of the ten practical demands in Composite 20 made it into the manifesto – extending the right to vote to all ‘UK residents.’ That is a welcome progressive measure, but the manifesto endorses managed migration in the interests of employers and ignores the most pressing injustices of the present immigration system.

The challenge for Labour’s pro-free movement, anti-Brexit activists

Hundreds of thousands of members who have flocked to the Labour Party since 2015 believed that Corbyn’s election as leader would reverse the history of increasingly racist immigration laws introduced by the Tories, Labour and Lib. Dems. That was the clear desire of Labour’s national conference when delegates voted for Composite 20. They will be deeply disappointed or downright angry at its exclusion from the manifesto.

Those members have, however, put their concerns aside for now and are working all out to get an anti-austerity Labour government elected, or at least to deny Johnson a majority. The general election campaign has, for a time, changed the balance of power between the leadership and the rank-and-file. Labour activists feel they must unite around the leadership when it is under a ferocious attack from the right.

MFJ understands that response, but we don’t politically support a Labour leadership that consciously refuses to take a stand for the right of free movement and against the racism of Brexit in the middle of Britain’s biggest peacetime political crisis for a century.

The issues and conflicts around immigration, free movement and Brexit will re-emerge in the Labour Party after the election, because really nothing will have been settled. Whoever is in government, Brexit means a constant crisis.

Whether Labour is in government or opposition, there will be a struggle over free movement because most Labour MPs and trade union bureaucrats think it is too difficult and dangerous to challenge racism, except in abstract moralistic terms. They are unwilling to undertake the kind of struggle that could overturn the material discrimination of racism and the divide-and-rule policies that are deeply rooted in Britain’s political and economic system. A leadership, like the present Labour leadership, that seeks ‘consensus’ among the MPs and trade union bureaucrats at the top of the party is trapped by those attitudes, whatever their own personal opinions.

MFJ therefore welcomes and supports the stand taken by 55 Labour candidates, including thirteen MPs seeking re-election, who have already issued a statement committing to continue the fight for free movement and all the policies in Composite 20[1]

The challenge for Labour’s pro-free movement, anti-Brexit activists (including the MPs who signed that statement) is to take the fight beyond Parliament and the internal politics of the Labour Party, to be part of building a mass movement to win – regardless of whether Labour is in government or opposition.

Building a fight to win

Genuine progressive change always comes from developments and struggles outside parliaments and independent of governments. The most urgent task now[2] is to overcome the toxic division of the working class based on race and attitudes to immigration, and to stop the rise of the Far Right that is based on Brexit. The Brexit crisis has broken the British political system and may yet break up the UK. It is unrealistic to rely on that system to defend and extend the free movement of people, end detention and deportation, and stop Brexit. That task requires the action of a mass movement led by immigrants, youth and the black and Asian communities.

MFJ will continue to support every struggle in the Labour Party to win free movement of people, defend immigrant rights and put Composite 20 into effect – but winning those struggles is conditional on the growth of that movement.

That comes down to building action that makes the current anti-immigrant regime unsustainable: marches and protests in and by the black, Asian, Muslim and immigrant communities and by youth, including on the demonstrations that will certainly be needed at Parliament in the coming months; weekday marches to shut down major cities; joint demonstrations inside and outside detention centres; school and college walk-outs; community organisation to prevent immigration raids; occupations and strikes in workplaces and universities to stop deportations.

This movement can win because it mobilises the social power of the most oppressed and most dynamic members of society, and that can inspire wider struggle and break down barriers, threatening the racist hierarchies that the system of divide-and-rule is based on.

This movement can’t just be wished into existence, nor can it be left to spontaneity; it has to be built and prepared. There are actually many thousands of people who can potentially be part of that work – organising meetings, building links, speaking to community and workers’ organisations, or in schools, colleges and universities. They need to be organised, whether they are in the community groups, the Labour Party, the trade unions or elsewhere.

The Movement for Justice

MFJ exists to build a movement of and for the poor and oppressed that can win a truly progressive and fulfilling future for all those struggling with the injustices of present-day society. To achieve that aim we seek to extend the struggles of the present until we win.

We call for an immediate, unconditional Amnesty for everyone who does not have a legal immigration status in the UK, because that is the only way to begin clearing up the mass of cruelty and injustice created by half a century of racist immigration and nationality laws.

We call for Opening the Borders of Britain and Europe because that is what immigrants are doing in their hundreds of thousands in order to resolve real material problems in their lives – problems that have mostly been caused by the actions of western imperialist powers. The alternative to Open Borders is an escalation of the barbarism and tyranny that we already see in the Mediterranean, in Libya, on the US/Mexican border and all around us.

We call for equal citizenship rights for everyone who lives, works and studies in the UK, because in an increasingly inter-connected world there is no democratic future for Britain, or any country, except as a multiracial, multinational society that is integrated on the basis of the equality of all its members, as the people we are.

[1] https://www.labourfreemovement.org/labour-candidates-pledge-solidarity-equality-and-free-movement-for-migrants/

[2] Of course, there are two ‘most urgent task,’ the other being the climate/ecological crisis, but these are linked in many ways and have a common enemy, and without an integrated movement against the racist scapegoating of immigrants there is no real possibility of building a movement to win action on the climate crisis.

Labour Conference policy on Free Movement & immigrant rights must be in the Election Manifesto

This election is about the future direction of our society…

Movement for Justice Open Letter to the Labour Party leadership

(sign on to this open letter here)

Dear Comrades,

This year’s Labour Party conference ended on a high note of political aspiration. On 25th September, delegate after delegate spoke in enthusiastic support of Composite 20: Free movement, equality and rights for migrants are socialist values and benefit us all. Those delegates spoke from their own experience and the experience of their black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, the communities that are battling against racist Home Office policies and the increasing racism and anti-immigrant prejudice that has dominated the campaign for Brexit. They spoke as immigrants, as the children and partners of immigrants, and as Labour councillors and activists. Nobody spoke against the motion. At the end of the debate Composite 20 was passed unanimously, to loud acclaim. That vote sent out a message of struggle and hope against the threat of a government led by Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Dominic Raab and Priti Patel.

With that vote, conference delegates presented you with a huge opportunity to change the dangerous direction in which this country and its political system are moving. If you put the inspiring programme of equality set out in Composite 20 at the heart of Labour’s election campaign, you will inspire millions. It will represent a decisive break with the disastrous racist policy that has been followed by politicians of ALL the main parties for decades – the policy of scapegoating immigrants for the social problems created by government policies and capitalist greed.

There are very good reasons why the great majority of black, Asian, Muslim and other minority ethnic voters, youth and students, and significantly more women than men are opposed to Brexit – because it is racist and reactionary and driven by anti-immigrant prejudice. We are experiencing its impact and we will not be silenced while our rights and futures are destroyed by the Brexiteers’ backward-looking, chauvinist project. You, the Labour Party and trade union leadership, cannot stay silent on this. You must listen to our voices.

On Saturday you will gather to finalise the Manifesto for the forthcoming election, in the ‘Clause 5 meeting.’ It is imperative that you include the policies in Composite 20. A clear commitment to fight for those policies can only benefit Labour in this election campaign and on 12th December.

Composite 20 called for Labour to include the following 10 points in the Manifesto:

  • Oppose the current Tory immigration legislation and any curbing of rights.
  • Campaign for free movement, equality and rights for migrants.
  • Reject any immigration system based on incomes, migrants’ utility to business, and number caps/targets.
  • Close all detention centres.
  • Ensure unconditional right to family reunion.
  • Maintain and extend free movement rights.
  • End “no recourse to public funds” policies.
  • Scrap all Hostile Environment measures, use of landlords and public service providers as border guards, and restrictions on migrants’ NHS access.
  • Actively challenge anti-immigrant narratives.
  • Extend equal rights to vote to all UK residents.

These are the policies of hope, and Labour is nothing if can’t inspire real hope. They are the policies for Britain to move forward as a progressive, democratic society that is integrated on the basis of equality for all. For nearly a decade, British governments have ratcheted up divide-and-rule, anti-immigrant policies, while imposing poverty and insecurity on working class and struggling middle class people of all races. The Tories and the Far Right are using Brexit to spread this racist poison. They must be stopped.

You can’t afford the illusion that Labour will unite ‘Leavers’ and ‘Remainers’ and win this election just by focussing on the NHS, public housing, Universal Credit, privatisation, the minimum wage etc, while saying as little as possible about Brexit or being neutral on it. Such a policy means being evasive, neutral and inactive on the continuing rise of racism and hostility to immigrants. It means ignoring the voices and the experience of black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, immigrants and youth

We are traditional Labour supporters if anyone is, and we will not be ignored, side-lined and taken for granted in order to appease the misplaced prejudices that Johnson and the Tories have spent their whole political careers encouraging. We will keep fighting for the progressive demands of Composite 20, and we will fight to win.

Moreover, Labour can’t win unless it challenges those divisive prejudices. The opinion polls make that clear. When asked what they regard as the most important issue in the election, most people put Brexit at the top of the list, especially among those who are not already planning to vote Labour. The NHS, the economy etc come much lower down the list of priorities. This is not surprising. At times of profound crisis – and Britain is going through its biggest peace-time crisis for a century – political direction and action become the decisive issue. It subsumes and determines the economic and social policies. It becomes a question, as many Labour supporters are saying, of what kind of country do we want this to be.

In reality, Labour will get more respect from the majority of Leave voters if you make it clear that you are taking action based on Composite 20, than you ever will by avoiding the very issues that are dividing the country. For decades, politicians of ALL the main parties have told voters that immigration is a threat. There are millions of people in impoverished, working class and struggling middle class (and predominantly white) communities that voted ‘Leave,’ who are not ideologically tied to the Far Right, and they deserve some political honesty and leadership from the Labour Party.

When you put the policies of Composite 20 at the heart of the election campaign you will send out a direct political challenge to everything the Tories and the Far Right stand for, you will inspire millions and multiply the numbers and commitment of Labour campaigners. You will encourage thousands of Labour Party members and voters to engage in a debate with their Leave voting friends, family members, neighbours and co-workers – tens of thousands of conversations that can change minds.

The stakes in this election are high. A victory for Johnson will not ‘get Brexit sorted,’ but it will establish the most reactionary British government since World War Two. It will mean an increase in racism, a deepening of the hostile environment for immigrants, greater repression, insecurity and inequality, and a bonfire of workers rights and human rights, along with tax cuts for the rich. The outcome of this election will shape the future direction of our society for years and decades to come. Labour must act boldly and without equivocation on the political issues of racism and immigration that have dominated discussion on Brexit, just as much as when you talk about the economy, public services or housing.

We urge you to seize the opportunity that the Labour conference provided you with when it unanimously backed Composite 20.

Movement for Justice

12th November 2019

MFJ Demonstrate at Labour Party Conference
MFJ at Labour Party Conference calling on the Labour Party to stand up for immigrant rights.