The reappearance of the extreme right on the streets of Britain is a worrying development. The English Defence League (EDL) has organised explicitly Islamophobic demonstrations in several cities. The British National Party (BNP) won almost a million votes in the European elections; now has fifty seven councillors and while its leader, Nick Griffin’s, appearance on the BBC’s Question Time may have been a shambles his fascist organisation benefited hugely from it. The support for the BNP is geographically specific, in areas of de-industrialisation in the North East for example, but in a situation where none of the main parties has anything to offer the working class there is a democratic deficit which the BNP is trying to fill.Confronting the far right is going to be a major priority for trade unionists, working class activists and socialists in the months to come. The fascists of the BNP use rhetoric which incites unemployed, demoralised, angry youth to attack members of their community who speak a different language, or have a different skin colour. Gay men and lesbians are also the subject of increased attacks by young people as Stonewall has identified.

All the recent evidence shows that it is futile to call on the state to ban fascist meetings and demonstrations. The advice from City & Holbeck Divisional Commander, Chief Supt Mark Milsom in Leeds to local Muslims and anti-racists was: “don’t get drawn in, let the police handle the event, let people stage their protest then go on their way.” In other words, “let the fascists take control of the streets, let them feel their strength and allow the police to help them grow.”

On those occasions when anti-fascist demonstrators do accept police advice they find that if their own protests are not banned they are subject to the same sort of kettling and restrictions that we saw at the G20 protests. They are blocked from preventing the fascist provocations.

The most effective way to deal with fascists was shown by the worshippers at Harrow mosque and anti-racists in north London who swept them off the streets. Local youth came out in their hundreds defeating them both politically and physically. Any racist or Islamophobe who’d been tempted to go along to the next EDL provocation in their area would be a lot less likely to after watching that.

It is the strength of the mobilisation of the Labour Movement, communities and youth that will get the fascists off the street. If calling for police bans is at one end of the spectrum, another strategy which has serious flaws is that of organising small groups to seek every opportunity to physically attack the fascists. “Squaddism”, as it has been called, puts its emphasis on attacking them at every opportunity – in pubs where the fascists meet in or on their way to their events. This allows the police to say both sides are violent yobs – it is the direct opposite of patiently building a base in working class communities and in the past has led to the glorification of a macho violent culture. It is not a way forward.

Unite Against Fascism (UAF) has organised and taken the lead in the recent demonstrations against the fascists. We have made it clear that we disagree with some of its recent tactical choices but as we argue in this edition, “we need to build it (UAF) and ensure it grows not just bigger but broader, pulling in wider forces from beyond the left and minority communities.”

Only the hopelessly naive would deny that there are deep reserves of racism in British society. As unemployment grows, particularly amongst young people, and as more and more people find themselves unable to find an affordable home, the easy answers that the fascists give will find an audience. All three of the big parties have pledged themselves to cuts and austerity as they gear up for the General Election. With only a weak voice from the left the BNP are seen by some as the only party standing up for the (white) working class.

More sharply than ever before the question of building a left, working class party which is able to offer answers to the capitalist economic crisis is posed. Only a strong, united left party can offer a real alternative to the racism, homophobia , Islamophobia and fascism of the far right.

This is the editorial from the next issue of Socialist Resistance