Counter-Protestors Challenge Blooming Far-Right Threat.

Over the past six Saturday’s, protests against migrant housing on Alloway place in Stobswell have been held.

Across the UK, protests against immigration, and subsequent counter protests have been held recently. With the saltire becoming a symbol of far-right anti-immigration sentiment.

In Dundee, these protestors are being contested by counter-protestors from various groups, such as Stand up to Racism Tayside & Fife (SRT&F).

The Jute Journal attended a recent protest and spoke to organisers of the counter-immigration side to understand better what people are feeling and the impact on community.

To gauge how safe these protests had been and if they had remained peaceful, we asked a counter-protestor, Jim McFarlane, Branch Secretary at Dundee UNISON for comment on the demonstration.

McFarlane said:

“These protests have popped up randomly; copycatting what’s going on in other places. These centres (housing on Alloway Place) have been used to house refugees without incident in the community for the past four years.”   

On the attitude of the far-right protestors, McFarlane said,

“There’s a lot of anger driving them, and people have a right to be angry, but there isn’t much coherence, politically”.

He continued,

“there was some violence on the first weeks of protest from the other side of the protests, and for the first two weeks, arrests were made on their side.”. 

The message the counter protestors were conveying was clear; that the community welcomed new people and were trying to foster unity.

Immediately, we could hear singing, drumming, chanting of “Refugees are welcome here”, and political chants such as “unemployment and inflation are not caused by immigration”.

Before continuing further, we were warned by McFarlane that on the other side there was a Nazi presence, with a man sporting a tattoo of the Scottish flag on his forehead, and the numbers ‘1488’, a common identifier of people holding Nazi beliefs.

For context, the 14 is in reference to the 14 words, a slogan originating from American neo-Nazi David Lane.

The 14 words being; “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children”. The 88, is in reference to H being the eighth letter in the alphabet, two eights symbolising ‘HH’, standing for “Heil Hitler”. 

To get a better idea of what the counter-protests were trying to achieve, I spoke to Mary Mclaren, a convener from SUTR Tayside and Fife, who had been at the protests since week one.  

Regarding the goals of SUTR Tayside and Fife, Mclaren said:

“(we want) to demoralise the racist side. But it’s a reactive tactic, so what we really want to do is organise gigs and things that bring the community together, and to go out prepared to defend the most vulnerable.

“It’s about creating a line that cannot be crossed to create a sense of community for those that need defended”.

Mclaren’s statement echoed what was already apparent about wanting to make sure people feel protected by the counter-protests and sewing unity.

When asked about what people needed protected from, Mclaren told us

“The first demonstration, they threw rocks at us and hit my friend. I’ve been threatened with death. They’d like to hurt us, they’ve made that clear”.

Mclaren continued,

“We saw a man with a saltire tattoo and the numbers 1488 on his forehead on the other side, who has been threatening to kill me across the barricade. We see people perform Nazi salutes and spit on refugees.” 

McLaren’s statements about Far-Right circles being present in Dundee is troubling to hear.

These protests represent a dark spot in Dundee as of now, with political violence present and a lack of clear political reasoning indicating why they are protesting migrant housing.

The clearest sign of overt political presence is seemingly Nazi sympathisers turning up to protest the migrant housing, spreading hateful messages and propagating violence.  

In Dundee, it represents a small, but very real threat in our community of movements being hijacked by hateful ideologies, and a threat of people being groomed by the Far-Right. Across the UK.

It signifies a growth in dangerous attitudes, bolstered by violence.

The London Economic reported that 40% of those arrested during anti-immigration protestics.had been reported for domestic abuse.

At the same time, several local groups have mobilised in support of migrant communities, advocating for unity and inclusion.

Counter-demonstrations, such as those organised by Stand Up to Racism Tayside & Fife, reflect a broader effort to promote community cohesion and challenge discriminatory narratives.

Featured Image: SUTR Tayside Facebook