The mass anti migrant movement summoned by Vote Leave received its most shocking expression in the neo-Nazi killing of Jo Cox MP. The mass wave of sympathy for Jo and her family needs to generate a militant anti-racist and anti-fascist response
Jo Cox, Labour MP for Batley and Spen has been assassinated by a neo-Nazi terrorist for her anti-racist and pro-refugee beliefs.
The outpouring of anger in response to her murder is a vital backlash against the racism and xenophobia whipped during the referendum campaign.
The Leave campaign has incited hatred against migrants and their supporters with the lie that migrants are to blame for the lack of housing, for pressure on health and education services, for the lack of jobs and for low wages.
Instead of pointing out that these problems are caused by the deliberate policies of the government, in the last week we have had senior members of the Labour Party, like Tom Watson and Ed Balls capitulating to pressure to restrict freedom of movement.
The labour movement’s failure to confront these racist myths abandons the debate on immigration to the racists.
The pro-Leave campaign were originally far behind in the polls, so they decided to launch an aggressive anti-migrant campaign.
That’s why there has been a surge in racist attacks carried out by people making pro-Brexit comments. The main targets of this racism are ordinary people attacked because of their skin colour or accent.
The reflex action of the right wing press to Jo Cox’s murder was to deny that it was a political crime let alone an organised act of right wing violence. They then implied that he was an apolitical “loner”.
In fact, far from being a loner he was an activist in various far right groups. Irrespective of whether he suffered mental health problems in the past, his statements in court make clear that Jo’s murder was a conscious act of neo-Nazi terrorism, deliberately struck against an anti-racist representative of the labour movement. It was an appeal to action, a call for more violence.
Now an MP has become the victim of the febrile atmosphere generated by the Leave campaign, the response of the establishment is to channel people’s outrage into demonstrations of support and appreciation of MPs under the slogan #ThankYourMP.
We should reject this cynical attempt to exploit Jo’s murder to shore up prestige for a discredited political class. Many MPs are responsible for the climate of racist violence which led to Jo’s death.
The main victims of the the violent xenophobia and nationalist fervour whipped up by politicians and the media are migrants and refugees.
The labour movement can have no unity with people who call for violence against refugees, who separate children from parents and who abandon thousands to die in the Mediterranean.
Faced with the threat of fascist terror against the anti-racist labour movement, our response must be swift and decisive.
