The failure of the British National Party (BNP) to win in Barking and its loss of 27 councillors was one of the better stories from May’s elections. But before victory is proclaimed, it should also be noted that the BNP’s vote rose by 1.83 per cent to 514,819. This is a hefty figure and no one should be complacent.

The past year has also seen the rise of the English Defence League (EDL), a street movement deliberately targeting Muslims. Earlier mobilisations in Birmingham and Harrow saw local antifascists driving EDL thugs from the streets to deny them the opportunity of peddling their racist filth. Since then, however, larger EDL mobs have marched in the north and midlands, with inevitable attacks on Muslim targets.

The EDL deny that they are fascists and say they only want to stop some mythical “Islamification” of Britain. They wave Israeli and Indian flags on their demos – just to provoke Muslims of course. The EDL even joined forces with the Zionist Federation in June to denounce the Gaza flotilla.

The EDL leaders have made a simple decision. They want to build a UK fascism, not old style German fascism. As a result they have ditched anti-semitism, back Israel and are even prepared to black and Asian youth to join with their overwhelmingly white base to attack Muslims.

What is fascism?
Fascism aims to become a mass movement in a period of deep capitalist crisis. It uses slogans that relate to people’s real fears but supply false solutions, for example “Stop immigration to end unemployment”. The nature of the scapegoat may vary – the Nazis targeted Jews, the EDL targets Muslims – but the aim is always to deflect attention from capitalism and break class solidarity.

There is nothing “inherently German” about fascism: as the EDL shows, Britain is perfectly capable of creating “its own” type. What distinguishes fascism from other reactionary movements is its desire to build a mass street fighting force that can physically attack its targets. We remember with horror the holocaust of six million Jews, but the key to Hitler’s rise to power was the smashing of trade unions and working class parties.

Because of this historic role of fascist parties, we believe they have to be stopped from organising their forces. This is the policy of “No platform for fascism”. Wherever fascists seek a political platform, it is always accompanied by a campaign of terror against ethnic minorities, trade unionists and socialists. That’s why antifascists fight to deny them that platform.

Stopping today’s fascists
Clearly the targeting of Muslims in the wake of Britain’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is an easy way for fascists to return to the streets for the first time since the 1970s. Some Nazis, like Combat 18, never liked the BNP’s focus on elections; others now believe Nick Griffin’s turn has run its course. Either way, the EDL provides a new focus for Britain’s fascists.

EDL thugs recently attacked mosques and Asian cabbies and businesses in Harrow, Leeds, Stoke and Dudley. Its slogan “No more mosques” clearly targets all Muslims, not just “extremists” as they claim. An undercover reporter from The Guardian filmed an EDL member boasting before the Bolton march: “”We’re going to get to twat some Pakis – I can feel it.”

To combat this new and growing threat, we need a workers’ united front against fascism and an Antifascist Defence League. At the moment, we have neither.

The united front
Unite against Fascism is an alliance of MPs from all parties (even David Cameron is a member!), several trade unions and the Socialist Workers Party. This popular front limits its arguments and tactics to what the capitalist politicians and the right wing of the labour movement will accept, and often busses its supporters away from the EDL before violence erupts.

Instead UAF argues for state bans. But the state is not neutral; it will use such bans against the left as well, and will always come down on the side of the fascists because it is first and foremost a capitalist state.

A real workers’ united front would break from this rotten policy. It would confront the EDL on the streets, call strikes against BNP councillors, and urge media workers to block coverage of fascists on radio, TV and the papers. It would help organise an Antifascist Defence League to draw black and white fighters into the struggle, not leaving it to Asian youth to defend their communities.