A LOT of strong and positive stories and words have been written in this paper and others about how we on the anti-racist left build a strong movement against racism and fascism.

None of us should be exclusive in our views; we all have something to add. But at this time when the far right have been emboldened the key word is Unity and we all have a responsibility to build the united front against racism and fascism.

The context in which we now operate is perhaps the most challenging since the 1950s. Internationally there has been a growth in the far right with Trump and the US at the centre of the web.

Big business is using its wealth to fund the growth of far-right and fascist parties worldwide. In his article in the Morning Star on September 2 David Lethbridge argued: “What we are learning today is that fascism can come to power even when the working class of almost every capitalist nation is very far from achieving revolution.”

Lenin stated that, although the translation is not exact, “fascism is capitalism in decay.” We can certainly recognise the decay around us.

Liberal democracies within the West have failed to deliver for their populations. Vijay Prashad wrote recently that the passivity and complicity of global North liberals and social democrats has paved the way for the global rise of the far right, as he defines it, of a special type.

Liberal and social democratic parties have adopted neoliberal austerity policies which have created the conditions for the mass base of the far right.

This linked to the failure by these parties to stop the genocide in Palestine and indeed give real encouragement to Israel has seen the far right, such as Tommy Robinson (Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon), come out and publicly support Israel. They do, however, perversely remain anti-semitic.

To stop the far right we cannot be defensive — we must build our trade unions, build our anti-austerity movement and win for the Palestinians.

Far-right parties such as Reform UK want to continue the Thatcher counter-revolution and it does no harm to remind people of the disastrous aftermath for the British economy.

Reform are also climate sceptics and I look forward to Green Party activists taking a proactive role in challenging these public manifestations by far-right thugs on our streets.

Today we must, as a movement, congratulate and stand in solidarity with those who have shown their support of refugees housed in hotels.

That is not to say we support the hotel owners. We want a system that protects asylum-seekers and allows them to work and integrate into our communities.

We must oppose the extremists who seeks to forge division and hatred. We must separate them from local communities and develop local united anti-racist groups.

Trade unions must do more than just supply their logos. TUC surveys show that 20 per cent of union members have voted or would consider voting for Reform candidates.

There is a real job of work for unions to explain what Reform stands for — that it is anti-worker and anti-union. This requires cross-union action building on the work already undertaken.

We need — as someone said — to make anti-racist activity fun. October is Black History Month, many activities are planned. October 17 is Show Racism the Red Card day — so let’s all wear red.

The government cannot stand aside and allow the anti-migrant narrative to increase over the next few months.

Alf Dubbs, a Labour peer and refugee from Nazi Germany, has called on the government to make the case for migration. He is right. It has been shown that where communities get together they develop self-protection regardless of the nationality of those who are part of it.

We cannot allow Labour to mimic Reform UK and this requires affiliated unions and constituency parties to push back and that means that statements made suggesting restricting the rights of families to join their partners must be opposed.

The impact on universities and the delivery of social care by further restrictions must be exposed. We must support workers and unions who now have people being sacked and deported as a result of changes in visa regulations. This requires a concerted effort to make the Employment Rights Bill fit for purpose.

A reduction in salary thresholds for visa applications and visa fees are other areas to campaign for.

The Home Secretary wishes to remove family reunification routes for refugees, and conflate them with existing spousal visas and minimum income requirements. It is important to ensure that people are aware that spousal visas are not a route to asylum, and that visa routes would not allow people to gain refugee status.

As PCS and Care for Calais have argued we need to eliminate the smuggling gangs by establishing safe routes for refugees.

Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “Until now, family reunion has been one of the only safe and legal routes available that allows refugees fleeing war and persecution to be reunited with their partner and children.

“Far from stopping people taking dangerous journeys to cross the Channel, these changes will only push more desperate people into the arms of smugglers.”

And Windrush remains a national scandal as shown by the recently reported case of an 81-year-old Ghanaian British citizen stranded abroad because the British government has doubts about her right to a British passport.

Clearly we will oppose the Reform UK programme, which apes the policies of Donald Trump, when it sets a target of 600,000 deportations. In practical terms this will mean crops left in the fields and social care homes closing.

Reform UK are not bothered by the impact of their announcements on society or the economy, neither is Robinson who we march against today.

To the anti-racist left this oppression and attacks give us an opportunity to build a movement that will demand social justice and socialism.

The government’s dangerous and deeply flawed Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill is full of the same failed anti-refugee policies that the previous government made. It’s heading to the House of Lords and the peers are under obligation to correct it.

Right now, anti-refugee laws and narratives fuel far-right mobs. They’re using refugees and those seeking asylum as scapegoats to stir division and hate.

We see this division all the time. When in 2023 the Home Office shortened the “move on period” in an attempt to reduce the number of refugees in hotels it resulted in a huge increase in the number of newly recognised refugees who became homeless.

This idea has now resurfaced and while the change will be less dramatic than in 2023, when the amount of time given to newly recognised refugees to move out of asylum accommodation was reduced from 28 to seven days. The proposed reduction, by half, from 56 to 28 days will inevitably see an increase in homelessness just as winter approaches. This will put pressure on local authorities’ already stretched budgets.

Reform UK is riding high in the opinion polls. The Tories are sinking and Labour is unpopular. Street thugs, some clearly fascist, and some organised by local Reform UK activists think their time has come.

The media offers them air time. Immigration — rather than cuts to welfare, wages, social conditions, housing and employment are now seen as the major issues.

We know that it isn’t. We must get out there to listen and talk and listen, to discuss. We must build on the work of unions and others in putting forward an alternative. Not just when the fascists come to town but every day.

Above we must make the case for a united front and for socialism.

Tony Conway is convener of the Communist Party’s Anti Racist Anti Fascist Commission.