“The wider labour movement must wake up and take action. Trade unions must play a key role, organising in workplaces and on the streets. It is obvious that the far-right will not be defeated on their own terms.”
By Steve Wright, General Secretary, Fire Brigades Union
The rise of the far-right cannot be denied or ignored. Across the world, extreme right-wing organisations and parties have gained power or are approaching it. Politicians of all stripes are scrambling for headlines by blaming migrants for declining living standards.
In recent years, the political agenda has been pushed increasingly to the right in the UK. Pandering to politicians like Farage has only extended their reach, with Reform UK talking points now echoed regularly by Downing Street.
The only way to tackle this threat is to face it head on, and to present a clear alternative.
Far right governments are already in power across Europe, in Italy, Finland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia and the Czech Republic. Hard right parties have won very high votes in Sweden, the Netherlands and Austria. In France, far right Marine Le Pen’s National Rally is polling at over 30%, while the Alternative for Germany has also surged with similar levels of electoral support.
Whenever the far right are in power, they attack workers’ rights and usher in private business interests. All the while telling the working class to blame inequality on migrants, Black, brown and LGBT+ communities – to punch down instead of looking up.
The right is gearing up to wage a battle at the next UK general election, with Reform UK setting its sights on major electoral gains. Having won more than four million votes in the 2024 election, securing 5 seats in parliament, their base is growing. The party was second in nearly one hundred seats, most of them currently held by Labour.
Nigel Farage and other Reform politicians cite Donald Trump as a source of inspiration, borrowing from Elon Musk’s playbook. In the US, Trump has launched his second term in the White House by attacking the jobs and living standards of US federal workers, while promoting deregulation and tax cuts to benefit billionaires. In local councils across England, Reform UK councillors have threatened to follow suit by attacking public service and council workers.
This has included taking aim at local authority workers’ pensions – including firefighters.
At the union’s annual conference this May, the Fire Brigades Union passed a motion committing to tackling this danger. Delegates agreed that we must cut through the xenophobic spin and false culture wars to reveal the class politics at play.
The truth is hidden in plain sight. Farage is a privately educated former stockbroker, backed by multimillionaire property developer Richard Tice. Reform UK has received large donations from other multimillionaires and remains a registered private company.
FBU members have engaged in leafletting and speaking to members of their communities about what Reform UK policies mean for public services. Their track record of voting against better rights for workers in parliament, and ambitions to slash public spending on the NHS, schools, and the fire and rescue service, all speak for themselves. Reform is a party of business, for business.
Meanwhile, the flames of violence are being fanned on the streets. The riots of last summer, continued attacks on hotels accommodating asylum seekers, and the organised daubing of St George’s flags across England; these are all the result of a decade of divisive rhetoric peddled by politicians and the press.
A movement around Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as “Tommy Robinson”, has been organising in parallel to Reform. Over the last year, his supporters have attended large demonstrations in London and elsewhere across the UK, sometimes outnumbering anti-racist and anti-fascist counter-protesters.
This intimidation must be countered en masse. Firefighters are committed to protecting their communities and are on the frontline in putting out fires set by far-right arsonists. This has also included standing in unity at counter demonstrations against the attacks.
We saw the power of mass mobilisations against extremist intimidation in places such as Walthamstow last summer. Trade unions can strengthen these demonstrations and present the working class fight back: a positive image of a working class united in solidarity, not divided by hatred.
And underpinning the false narratives, austerity has laid the ground for the right’s gains. With public services cut to the bone, crumbling infrastructure, and vast wealth inequality, the economic system is failing the majority of people. Communities devasted by Thatcher’s attack on workers and industry have been left to suffer for decades.
Meaningful investment in public services is the only way to reverse course. Imposing more cuts will only deepen the wounds, leaving more areas vulnerable to the likes of Farage. Labour will not win by repeating the austerity of the Conservative years and parroting divisive rhetoric.
That’s why FBU members will be joining demonstrations rallying outside Westminster, calling for a tax on wealth ahead of Reeves’ autumn budget.
The wider labour movement must wake up and take action. Trade unions must play a key role, organising in workplaces and on the streets. It is obvious that the far-right will not be defeated on their own terms.
The only way to win is to centre a class politics that isn’t afraid to take on the bosses and corporations – and present real hope for the future.
- By Steve Wright, General Secretary, Fire Brigades Union.
- You can follow Steve on x/twitter here.
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