People Before Profit Councillor Matt Collins has hit out at elected representatives who court the far-right and has called on Belfast City Council to reject Britain First. Cllr Collins has tabled a motion to next week’s full council stating opposition to Britain First, and is calling on the council to oppose their attempts to organise here. Speaking ahead of the meeting Cllr Collins stated:
“Across the world we are seeing a worrying rise of far-right and fascist organisations. Just last month the racists of Britain First were hosted in Belfast by Cllr Jolene Bunting. Britain First is not a “normal” political organisation, they harbour the worst elements of the British far right, including hard-line fascists. They are deeply reactionary, racist and need to be opposed tooth and nail. This is an organisation that has organised invasions of Mosques and constantly spouts racist rhetoric against Islam. It is disgraceful that Cllr Bunting has courted this vile anti-Muslim organisation.”
“Worse still, Britain First have stated their intent to further organise in Belfast and if they try to do so we must oppose them in large numbers. We need to make it clear that Muslims and other minority communities are welcome here and that Britain First’s divisive politics aren’t. Belfast has a proud history of anti-racism and anti-fascism. Unfortunately, we have also seen a worrying rise of racist incidents in recent years, just this week we’ve seen racist graffiti appeared on homes in East Belfast.”
“It is shameful that an elected representative is courting Britain First, whose politics will only encourage those who carry out acts of racism. On Monday, I will be appealing to other representatives on Belfast City Council to clearly state opposition to Britain First, and send a strong message that racism and far-right bullyboys are not welcome in this city.”