RECLAIM THE GAME

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: october 2019 :: RMTnews 20 A number of trade unionists have attended rallies organised by the Democratic Football Lads Alliance and fascist Tommy Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon). These rallies have been organised around football fans. Below is an extract from my book Reclaim the Game as a warning to members taken in by the propaganda of these people and organisations. The majority of workers in Britain have seen their real wages fall by an average of 10 per cent, some by 20 per cent, in the last 10 years. RMT, through militant action, has bucked this trend for members. Since the Banking collapse of ten years ago the richest 1,000 people in Britain have seen their wealth increase from £258 billion in 2009 to £724 billion in 2018. The banks received a bailout of £700 billion. We have witnessed hard working people robbed to line the pockets of the rich. The billions of pounds in austerity cuts have also slashed the social wage in Britain. Racism in football, like violence in football, is not divorced from the racism and violence in society in general. Racists and fascists are still present in the game, especially at England internationals. Football, since its inception, has always acted as a safety valve to allow mainly working- class males to let off steam- but it is also a distraction, where workers have given each other a good kicking, rather than turn on their common enemy, -the bosses at work, or the club directors who have hijacked the game for the sake of prestige and profit. This division between working-class fans at matches plays into the hands of the bosses. The psyche of a minority of workers stems from a ‘racial superiority syndrome’ built up when Britain had a vast empire. Derogatory images of Black and Asian people were prevalent in British schoolbooks, films, nursery rhymes and literature up until the 1970’s and beyond. This ‘syndrome’ was encouraged to justify Britain’s subjugation of two-fifths of the globe, and also to justify the slave trade when 30 million black people were shipped from Africa. Around six million died on route. The myth was encouraged that Blacks, Asians and Irish were inferior, stupid, lazy, or even all three. Continentals were portrayed as ‘shifty’, ‘cowardly’, ‘filthy’ etc. No wonder that some people see it as fair game to hurl abuse at Blacks, Pakistanis or Muslims or Jews. Events are also portrayed to show that white people won the war when in fact, hundreds of thousands of Black soldiers and troops from the Indian sub- continent fought in the war. Thousands of Irishmen also fought in the war, hundreds of airmen in the Battle of Britain were from Poland. My Dad, from an Irish family and born in Shepherd’s Bush in West London, left my Mum and new- born daughter, my sister Josie, in the then Irish Free State (now the Republic) and returned to fight for the British Eighth Army for five years in the Middle East. The ironic thing is the morons who lead the EDL, DFLA and the BNP; the so called ‘super patriots’, would have been supporters of Hitler and Mussolini during the war and would have been seen as quislings and traitors. Racism at matches and the workplace is also tied to the utterances of ‘respectable’ politicians, who try to blame the fact that we are unemployed, in lousy low paid jobs or poor housing on the presence of foreigners and asylum seekers. This is ‘divide and rule’- get the working class fighting amongst themselves- and the fat cats can hold onto their wealth made from our toil and sweat. The main spongers in society are the politicians who have stolen millions of pounds in fraudulent expenses and the bankers who have given themselves millions in bonuses, paid for by us the tax payer. Racism in football and society divides black and white workers. The only way to obtain decent housing, education and full, well-paid employment, is for all workers, black and white, to struggle against their common enemy the big business system which exploits all workers regardless of their colour, nationality or creed, and which forces us to live in lousy housing, put up with poor education and health and throws us out of work. The DFLA and the EDL are anti-trade union and have threatened trade union and socialist meetings. They have also attacked trade unionists. They hand out anti-Islamic leaflets, blaming Islam for all the ills of society. The policies of EU governments over the last 40 years, have fuelled the growth of the far-right. Policies of de- industrialisation, cutbacks in services, the rundown of cheap available social housing and massive austerity cuts have alienated many working people and allowed racist organisations to peddle their ideas of bigotry and division. We stand for a socialist solution to the crisis caused by capitalism. This will be achieved by unity in action of black, white and Asian workers, regardless of ethnic background or religious beliefs. Those ultimately responsible for unemployment, housing shortages and cuts in public services are the bankers, the big corporations and super rich who make vast profits while our people, the working class, languish on the dole, live in poor housing and are denied basic social services. We will not let the EDL, the DFLA, UKIP or any organisation divide our class. We will combat them in the workplace, at football and on the streets and build unity of working people to defeat racism. We will build links with other trade unionists and anti-racist organisations to build a trade union and political alternative to the far-right. RECLAIM THE GAME Retired member John Reid looks at far right activity aimed at football fans EDL: Supporters of Tommy Robinson clash with police outside the Old Bailey in London after the former EDL leader was found in contempt of court by High Court judges for filming defendants in a criminal trial and broadcasting the footage on social media.