EditorIal They shall not pass SIOBHÁN McGUIRK While editors make plans and develop articles across the three-month stretch between issues, the magazine itself is pulled together in two short weeks. As puzzle pieces are wrangled into place, one of us composes an editorial designed to capture the assembled whole and speak to the current moment. At the start of production, in early August, that moment was urgently clear. Far-right mobs were massing in English and Northern Irish streets, rampaging to mosques, trying to burn down hotels they believed housed people seeking asylum, screaming hate and wielding violence towards anyone they perceived to be Muslim, migrant, black or brown. Others stood back, chanting ‘We want our country back!’ or casually filmed friends rioting while asking the police: ‘Why aren’t you arresting P*kis?’ These horrifyingly familiar, very British, scenes are the inevitable, cyclical, expression of an institutionally racist and Islamophobic society. The latest iterations have been trialled and trailered for more than a year, in flaming torches outside a Merseyside hotel; firebombs at an immigration detention camp; ‘patriotic’ marches through Whitehall; MPs’ dog whistles on ‘integration’ and ‘British values’; the relentless dehumanisation of Palestinians facing genocide (PAGE 37) ; the rise of Reform. Fascism has been fed oxygen daily – subtly, overtly – by too many public figures to count. Surreally, as I write, they have all deemed the moment to have passed. The prime minister delivered tough justice – a clear message to the ‘thugs’. Even the Express and Mail cried ‘Shame!’ Counter-protesters and volunteer clean-up crews showed the real national spirit. Brave police dealt with fringe mobs – now, let’s talk Olympic success! Tens of thousands eager to commit and incite race hate, GBH, attempted murder is never old news. In or out of sight, they remain encouraged by Keir politicians, to build and sustain anti-fascism – and to recognise that it is needed, everywhere. We planned this issue knowing that at least 50 countries – home to more than half the global population – would hold elections in 2024. Time magazine calls it ‘the election year’. Candidates, polls and results have dominated news cycles. We’ve watched the ‘centre’ move far to the right. While knowing our enemies in power, we must look to It falls to the people, not politicians, to build and sustain anti-fascism Starmer’s pre-election remarks about more swiftly deporting Bangladeshis and the new home secretary’s promised ‘immigration raid blitz’. They are emboldened by ‘Stop the Boats!’ splashes, back on tabloid front pages within days, and by prime-time pivots from burning cars to net migration statistics. They cheer every utterance of ‘legitimate concerns’ and nod when morning TV show anchors bristle about using ‘that specific word “Islamophobic”’. The cycle of wilfully denied mainstream fuel and complicity rumbles on, masking deep-seated racism everywhere. It falls to the people, not movements agitating for real change – not manifestos vaguely promising it. Our cover section ‘Beyond the Ballots’ (PAGES 12-23) assesses the hows, whys and what elses of shifting socio-political sands in India, El Salvador and France – each with important lessons for the UK. Our focus on imperialism (PAGES 31-41) , in collaboration with Another Europe is Possible, highlights the threat of expansionist states – and of ‘campist’ thinking that shields some from left critique. A central tenet runs through the issue: that grassroots organising – inspiring new cultures and politics in the UK (PAGES 42; 48-57) and transforming material realities in the USA (PAGE 44) – is essential for ensuring the future is anti-fascist, always and everywhere. The moment has not passed. RED PEPPER 245 Autumn 2024 3