“Stop the hate”: anti-racist demonstrators in counter-protest against ‘Great British National Strike’

A protest by Oxford Stand Up to Racism (OSUTR) assembled in front of Carfax tower at 11am this morning in opposition to a ‘Great British National Strike’ called by supporters of far-right anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson.

Around 100 OSUTR protestors were gathered at the end of Cornmarket, outnumbering the few dozen far-right demonstrators. 

The “GBNS” was originally advertised by an anonymous organiser on TikTok, according to the New European. “On the 24th of May Great Britain will hold a national strike, the Great British National Strike. Why? Well, because Great Britain is under attack. You and I, as you watch this video, you are under attack.”

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was charged with harassment causing fear of violence on 21st May. The incidents concerned occurred between 5th and 7th August 2024, amid national Islamophobic violence.

A flyer distributed by OSUTR at the protest read: “Supporters of Britain’s most notorious Nazi Tommy Robinson have called protests in 74 towns and cities across the UK today under the slogan ‘The Great British National Strike’ – though they aren’t asking anyone to stop work and no trade union is backing them.”

This protest forms part of a national counter-demonstration against the “Great British National Strike”, as advertised on OSUTR’s instagram, with similar movements taking place across the country. 

A spokesperson from OSUTR told Cherwell: ““There’s an event called the Great British National Strike that’s been called by people who are associated with the far-right, and they’re raising various public slogans and marrying their very hard-right racist ideas to mobilise people, also to harden a sort of right wing cadre in society.

“We’ve come out to oppose them, but there are known fascists in the mobilisation over there, they’ve pulled a rump of people around their racist ideas.”

A post in the Facebook group ‘The Great British National Strike’ listed “illegal immigration”, “net-zero”, “inheritance tax”, “rape gang inquiry”, “freedom of speech”, and “reversal of benefit cuts” as the objects of the demonstration. One GBNS demonstrator wore a T-shirt reading “Free Tommy Robinson”.

One of the GBNS demonstrators told Cherwell that she joined the movement in support of “WASPI [women against state pension inequality], pensioners, farmers”. She told Cherwell: “Rachel Reeves is a thief to the population of the UK.” She did not identify as being “far right” noting that she “got a Syrian refugee his British citizenship”.

In response to the claims that the GBNS group were protesting the cost of living, the OSUTR flyer read: “they are yrying [sic] to use legitimate concerns over cost of living, winter fuel payments and claim to be open to all, but their twitter page is rife with uncritical support for last weekend’s fascist protests in Bristol and Birmingham.”

An OSUTR spokesperson told Cherwell: “some of them have come out I think quite misguidedly on the idea that they’re going to do something for rich farmers, opposing the inheritance tax, things like that, but actually […] we’re trying to explain that people who are mobilising them are actually racists and fascists.”

At 12.55pm, the Great British National Strike [GBNS] crowd began marching down Cornmarket. Police were seen physically moving OSUTR counter-protestors out of the way. The OSUTR protest followed GBNS on their way, chanting “there are many many more of us than you”.

The demonstration and counter-protest returned to Carfax tower shortly afterwards, having marched down Beaumont Street, across Gloucester Green, and back up George Street.