Football Lads Alliance.Where are they Marching to ?

Photo: Peter Marshall.

On October 7th the FLA (Football Lads Alliance) held their second demo.This march was so white it couldn't cast a shadow.

Perhaps slightly cheap.This was not an exclusively white march ,in fact amongst others some Ghurkas were on the march.However it was predominantly white, and more so than most protests.

Many have written that this was the working class on the move. However,it was overwhelmingly white and "the lads" attending were 50 somethings  from the football firms of the 70s and 80s.It was also very male.
The first thing to point out is FLA is not a Fascist movement ,nor is it overtly racist.The real worry over the marches they have held is their lack of coherency.

Their first one back in June  attracted over 5,000 ,this one attracted anywhere between 7-10 thousand.It was clearly better attended.The nature of these demos is what many are speculating about.The concern is that many look back to The United Peoples of Luton demo some years ago, that quickly morphed into the EDL(English Defence League) . If you remember the EDL's original slogan was "Not Racist-Not Violent-But No Longer Silent."
No racist declares their racism anymore. It's been a standing joke for some years that most racists prefix bigoted comments with "I'm not racist but...."

Strangely the media are never interested in what working class people are thinking unless its something regressive and unpleasant. (They also increasingly like to talk of the white working class ,a term which should be rejected, which has become a divisive and snobbish term to legitimise  racism within one community.) When they declare it is the "authentic voice of the working class", the latest missive on this score comes from Brendan O'Neill editor of Spiked, writing in The Spectator.. The online magazine Spiked was launched after the Revolutionary Communist Party's Living Marxism magazine went bankrupt after losing a libel action with ITN News.The RCP's particular schtick was to see what the rest of the left was saying and take an opposing viewpoint from a hard libertarian position.He has followed this through by opposing amongst other things, victims of Jimmy Savile speaking out,climate change, and the current campaign for equal marriage in Australia. He has also taken the position that the BDS (Boycott Divestment and Sanctions) is antisemitic and has spoken on a Stand with Us platform. It is obviously completely legitimate to involve yourself with Israel Advocacy groups but this is one of the more rabid ones.He has taken the position that racism and homophobia on the terraces is basically letting off steam.

Noticeably The Spectator article has been shared and reposted amongst the far right twitter-sphere and Facebook groups.

The problem with FLA is that they claim to be against all forms of extremism, but this is not borne out in practice.If you go onto their FB pages little is said of the murder of Jo Cox or the outrage at Finsbury Park Mosque,or the many attacks on Muslims across the country.

The platform at their first demo was truly appalling. It featured Mohan Singh, who made Islamophobic comments and has appeared on EDL platforms and Toni Bugle of Mothers Against Radical Islam and Sharia Law (MARIAS), who has long established links with the EDL and the British far right.

The platform looked less like a broad coalition and more like the Cantina Bar scene out of Star Wars .

At the 11th hour Toni Bugle was pulled from the platform for the second demo with the begrudging comment from John Meighan the FLA's founder that he was "taking advice on the PR Front." Mohan Singh was thankfully not on the platform either.

Walking With the Wounded ,the forces charity ,withdrew from working with the FLA in September after SUTR voiced concerns about the organisation.
John Meighan was forced to concede:

"The screenshots they(SUTR)produced (of recent posts)were racist,and leave me with no argument".

The eventual platform seemed to be dominated by ex squaddies and the more right wing the pronouncements got the wildest and most enthusiastic reception.
Calling for the reintroduction of internment without trial or deportation on the grounds of suspicion were rapturously received.When internment was introduced into Northern Ireland it was a disaster,and was referred to as the recruitment officer of the IRA.

Photo Peter Marshall

The most well received speaker was Phil Campion a former member of the SAS. Who introduced his speech by lambasting political correctness and then proceeded to make some pretty silly remarks about standing up for Britain including some obligatory Churchill quotes.
He was representing a group called Veterans Against Terrorism, which defines itself as being a campaigning organisation against Jihadi terrorism and not other forms of terror.
He apparently has a distinguished military record, his autobiography is called Born Fearless, so whatever character failings he does possess false modesty is not one of them.

The Anti PC routine has become a game for right wing ideologues. You create the spectre of the all powerful "Gay Mafia" or "Race relations industry" and then you claim that making racist, anti-gay or illiberal  remarks is an act of courage.A typical example being when complaining about refugees is to say:"Of course you're not allowed to say that anymore !" When of course you are,in ,The Daily Mail,The Daily Express,The Daily Telegraph,The Daily Star,The Times and of course The Sun.
This is the world where straight white men are the silenced ones,the victims.

John Meighan, the founder of FLA, with a history of hooligan related activity to his discredit, used his speech to launch into an attack on Diane Abbott.This is significant , Diane Abbott is without question the pre-eminent  black politician in Britain, and also the most vilified and racially abused public figure in the country. No-one has received more unpleasant and threatening tweets. It raised questions about why she should be specifically targeted.

The video below gives some flavour of the speeches.

  

During the rally there was much singing of "We want our Country Back."
From Whom ?
I think we can guess.

Stand Up to Racism Leaflet.

Photo Peter Marshall.

Stand Up to Racism decided to have an intervention to voice our concerns, it was not a counter protest. We merely wanted to hand out a  leaflet. The details of which are here.

There was a group of about 150 people from SUTR and also Show Racism the Red Card along with Kevin Courtney NEU education union joint general secretary,was present

“You can understand expressions of outrage against terror attacks that have taken place,” he said.

“But when I look at the first march there are some with racist and Islamophobic views—it could be a recruiting ground.”

“It’s important that the reaction isn’t to blame the majority of Muslims, to see that it has nothing to do with Islam.

“But some in the FLA seem to have the reverse response”.

Whilst the conduct of the front of the march was fine there were elements within the march whose conduct was extremely aggressive.

There were shouts of "I hope you get bombed", "you're not English anymore", "paedo Scum". For anyone who has spent anytime opposing fascist marchers these comments were horribly familiar.

There were also volleys of beer cans thrown.

Some of the abuse Stand Up to Racism activists were subjected to:

It's important to note that many or indeed most of the people on the march were well behaved and came with floral tributes in their team logos,but there is a nasty hardcore within the organisation who clearly have links with the far right.

Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, or Tommy Robinson as he likes to call himself was told by the organisers he was unwelcome on the march.When he turned up there were people who made it clear he was unwelcome.

However,there were others who rushed forward to shake his hand and have selfies taken with him.

The way he was feted was the kind of reception  you see afforded to Meryl Streep on BAFTA night. 

Leading figures in FLA have subsequently come forward to condemn his presence on the march.

It's worth noting however,that there are people even further down the food chain than Tommy Robinson.

Gary Raikes from the  self identifying Fascists of The New British Union was on the march and others were present.They base themselves on Mosley's British Union of Fascists,and are a proudly Fascist organisation.

It's pretty clear that most genuine footie fans  gave him short shrift , the problem is that people like him feel confident to be there.

The problem with FLA is that the leadership has built the organisation not on it being broad based but merely vague, they see this as it's strength,but increasingly it seems to be becoming more stridently right wing.

It is the inchoate nature of the organisation that make it an appealing host for all manner of far right groups.

It now seems to be evolving into a right wing populist body that presents itself as an inviting host for fascists to infiltrate. 

It appears to be an organisation with no democratic structures for genuine football fans to intervene in.There seems to be a serious investment in merchandise ,although nobody seems to know where the money is coming from.

John Meighan has now registered Football Lads Alliance as a limited company with himself as sole director.

Large sums of money are likely to be raised from the sale of hoodies,T shirts and enamel badges.

To misquote Billy Bragg "The Counter-Revolution is only a T-Shirt away."

If it is indeed becoming a cash cow it begs the question:

Where is the money going?

Many of the people involved seem to have a romantic attachment to the 70s and 80s when football grounds were an unwelcoming place for women,who now make up 25%of attendees at football matches.(This is not reflected on these marches) Football was  not a welcoming place for the LGBT community,as well as being  a time when racist abuse was not uncommon. The situation is now far from perfect ,but huge gains have been made.

We are going to have to see how the situation develops,but it is essential that not only antiracists but  the wider football community starts to ask some pointed questions as to what the values and motivations of the FLA are, and what they really stand for.