Leading Jewish peer warns ‘there are fights ahead’ at anti-fascism event
Baroness Ruth Anderson warned of the rise of 'conspiracy theories' and ideas that 'empower the far-right' at anti-racism charity Hope Not Hate's event to mark 100 years of battling fascism in the UK
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
A leading Jewish peer has warned that “there are fights ahead” in a speech delivered at an event held to mark 100 years of fighting the rise of fascism in the UK.
Baroness Ruth Anderson spoke of concern that at a time when people were struggling with the impact of the continued cost of living crisis that people were more likely to “embrace conspiracy theories and scapegoats.”
The Labour peer and former Stoke on Trent MP Ruth Smeeth before taking her title, also used her speech at Hope Not Hate ‘s 100 years of British anti-fascism event at City Hall, east London, to criticise the rhetoric from “parts of the Conservative Party” which she said was “empowering the far-right.”
Anderson said:”You only have to look at Suella Braverman and the (small) boats. You only have to look at what parts of the Conservative Party are becoming and how that is empowering the far-right.”
Her warning about the rise of far-right rhetoric came in the same week as a three day long National Conservatism conference in London, attended by government ministers, featured several examples of controversial statements from speakers relating to Jews and the Holocaust.
Other communal figures to attend the anti-racism charity’s event on Thursday evening included the Community Security Trust’s Dave Rich, and Joel Rosen, the current president of the Union of Jewish Students, and Jewish Labour councillor Rebecca Filer, who also works for Hope not Hate.
Rosen said:”It is really inspiring to learn about the heroes of the anti-fascist movement and to build on their legacy.”
He said the “far right posed a specific threat to the Jewish community both here in the UK and internationally, and it is absolutely vital that far-right ideas are challenged to ensure they don’t become mainstream.”
May 1923: the first British fascist group was launched.
Alive to this danger, ordinary people did the extraordinary beginning 100 years of anti-fascism.
We are telling their stories and shining a light on fascist groups who tried to change Britain. https://t.co/GTTWivsmOa pic.twitter.com/0WYhhJuiBW
— HOPE not hate (@hopenothate) May 18, 2023
In May 1923 a group called the British Fascisti was formed, modelled on Mussolini’s National Fascist Party in Italy, sparking the birth of fascism on the streets of the UK.
One hundred years after this, Hope Not Hate have brought out a book detailing the rise and need for anti-fascist activity in this country, which includes significant involvement from the Jewish community, at Cable Street in the East End, through the 62 Group, which came together to challenge a resurgent fascist movement during the 1950s and 60s, and also more recently through the establishment of the Community Security Trust.
He said hundreds of Jewish students had been left “inspired” after Hope Not Hate’s Joe Mulhall had come to speak to them at the recent UJS conference.
Nick Lowles, the charity’s chief executive, also spoke of the continued fight against fascism, but warned that while once it was obvious to know who the extremists were, today “it becomes more difficult to work out who are enemies are” particularly since the advent of social media.
Urging those inside the venue to “remember our past and those who came before us”, Lowles paid special tribute to Gerry Gable, the Jewish political activist, and longest serving editor of the anti-fascist publication Searchlight, who was in attendance.
In another well-received speech Unmesh Desai, Labour’s London Assembly spokesperson on Policing and Crime, spoke of the need to “learn from the past” in order to face up to the “challenges of the future.”
He spoke of “new forms of hate” around the long-standing prevalence of antisemitism in society, along with anti-Muslim hatred, adding:”It’s about fighting hatred on all fronts. “It’s important to recognise what unites us, and recognises that communities have far more in common, than that which divides us.”
London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden Anne Clarke, also a councillor in Cricklewood, told Jewish News:”The constituency I serve, like much of London, is very diverse.
“Events like tonight allow us to both celebrate achievements in the past, and prepare us for battles in the future.”
Alison Phillips, editor of the Daily Mirror, who have worked closely on campaigns with Hope not Hate for many years, and the singer Billy Bragg both received awards at the event.
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