A large crowd gathered in York today to send a message that the city would not tolerate racism and street violence.
The Stop The Far Right Rally, organised by York Stand Up To Racism, took place in St Helen’s Square this afternoon (Saturday).
Speakers lined up to condemn the riots that took place in towns and cities in the UK last week.
People carried placards saying ‘York Was Built By Immigrants’, ‘Yorkshire Tea – Not Bigotry’, ‘York Welcomes Refugees’, and ‘Wind Your Neck In Elon’.
One passer-by who jeered at the gathering was quickly silenced by a chorus of ‘Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here’.
The crowd also chanted ‘Brick by brick, wall by wall, racists borders have to fall’.
Chair of York Green Party Tom Franklin was MC at the rally. In his speech, he referred to the events last Wednesday night in York, where there were fears a large far right protest was set to descend on the city.
He said: “There is hope. After a few days when things really did look very ugly, and many Muslims were truly terrified to leave their homes, we’ve seen a huge up-swelling of love and solidarity.
“On Wednesday, I was outside the Barbican in case fascists turned up. They were outnumbered by us 50 to one.
“I can see some of the people who were there here today as well. Because the vast majority of people know that racism is evil and want no part of it. And many are, despite our fear, willing to stand up against it.”
York Central MP Rachael Maskell said: “Stand together today and know that you are here shaping history, that you are here shaping our future.
“Let’s hold that tight as we move forward in our freedoms and our love, as we rebuild the kind of society that we want to see in York, in our nation and spread across our world.”
There was a significant, if low-key, police presence at the rally – and Ms Maskell praised officers.
“Can I just commend the police in all that they have done. Many rushed into a situation which is beyond nightmares in Southport – and then they rush to the streets to protect those towns.
“They’re here today, and they’re here across the country, serving us, serving their country, and I really thank them for that.”
A speaker who only identified himself as Chris said: “I’ve just been so angry about what I’ve seen on our streets over the last couple of weeks.
“What’s made me really angry since then is actually the lack of real political debate as to where this is coming from – because this is coming from 15 years of austerity, the drip, drip, drip of racism, from the Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph, the Nigel Farages, the Andrew Tates, the Yaxley Lennons, they’ve been beating this drum for 15 years.
“What we need to do is inject the politics back into this discussion.”
Johnathon told the rally: “This is us making our mark today, saying ‘refugees welcome here’.
“Some of us deployed over this week in town, the Barbican, the mosque, to make sure the refugees were safe.
“And I would like to thank the people in York who deployed. Thank you very much. You made it safe.”
North Yorkshire Police said after the rally: “You may have noticed we had an increased presence in the city centre today in response to a planned event.
“We’re pleased to say this passed without incident – and we’d like to thank everyone for their ongoing support.”
