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Collective Blame

Issue date

This weekend the English Defence League once again descended on Newcastle, met with a very robust anti-racist protest. Sensible people will be disturbed, disappointed and, to some degree, appalled by the sight of this internal, domestic conflict in the high profile, internationalist and popular city. For several years Newcastle has branded itself as a 'city for peace'; a place where cultural diversity and inclusion are celebrated and championed. Work led by the City Council and key community stakeholders, including trade unions, has sought to create not just an atmosphere, but practical mechanisms to prevent the inter-community tensions and fractures that the EDL are seeking to expose and exploit.

These tensions are particularly exaggerated by the horrific murder of Lee Rigby in Woolwich last week. That murder, rightly, has been strongly condemned by all community organisations, a broad cross-section of religions, and all sensible people are revolted by what happened, how, when and where it occurred. That the EDL sought nothing more than to make racist political capital out of the murder does not improve their credibility or standing, it demeans the organisation even further and confirms their role as an organisation principally focussed on conflict and division.

That the EDL choose Newcastle for a major demonstration is, in itself, worthy of further scrutiny. Newcastle and the north east in general have a relatively lower percentage of Black Minority Ethnic or Muslim community presence than most other cities or regions in the UK. While there have been a small number of relatively serious issues concerning race in the region's communities in the last few years, it isn't somewhere anyone could legitimately describe as a location with particular racial challenges.

The EDL aren't in Newcastle as a response to racial tensions, they're here to enflame them. The counter-demonstration, promoting a different view of how the region sees itself, an inclusive, cohesive community, is much more in tune with how people within and outside of the north east understand the region to be. It is certainly much closer to the reality than the vision portrayed by the reactionary, provocative voices of the EDL, but there remain some major equality challenges within the north east.

Occupational segregation is particularly stark in the north east. Whether you're disabled, a woman or a young black person, disadvantage in the workplace and wider society is a significantly higher barrier here than in other parts of the UK. There are major gaps in opportunity for young white working class people too, and this feeling of alienation from a chance to progress is fuel for the fire to the likes of the EDL. Their unfounded rhetoric provides someone to blame for the economic exclusion many people face - but it's the wrong target.

The root cause of these tensions isn't race or religion; it's economic exclusion across all communities. Access to good quality employment and decent public services, including housing, would go much further to easing these community tensions than any march or counter-demonstration ever could.

Kevin Rowan

Head of Organisation and Services

TUC

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