An Isle of Dogs councillor says the “vast majority” of residents there “reject hate, disorder and the intimidation” by far right groups in Canary Wharf.
Labour councillor Mufeedah Bustin wants Tower Hamlets Council to back a motion to “stand up to the far right” next week. Her call comes after a series of far right protests targeting asylum seekers at a hotel on the Isle of Dogs.
In the motion, Cllr Bustin says: “Over the summer, the presence and activity of far right and fascist groups at the Britannia Hotel in recent weeks, including individuals associated with White Vanguard, The Homeland Party, the ‘Spartans’, the English Defence League, figures linked to Tommy Robinson and convicted paedophiles.”
She adds: “The vast majority of residents on the Isle of Dogs reject hate, disorder and the intimidation seen outside the Britannia Hotel; they want safety, decency and fair chances for their families.
“Outside far right agitators are attempting to import division into our borough; we reject their presence, their tactics and their attempts to target our neighbours.”
Cllr Bustin, who represents Island Gardens ward, also noted that the “operation raise the colours” campaign “is led by far right extremists”.
She added that staff tasked with removing the flags “have faced threats and assaults”.
It comes after a group of masked men called the Britannia Spartans tied St George’s Cross flags to lamp posts on the Isle of Dogs at night during August.
Members of the Spartans also posted videos to social media of themselves harassing council workers who removed the flags. One activist said he raised the flags in response to people he wrongly called “illegal immigrants” in the hotel.
Cllr Bustin’s motion says borough residents are “right to be unhappy about decreasing availability of social housing, increased rents and deteriorating public services”.
It says that the “conflation” of this with “increased levels of migration is factually incorrect and deliberately used by those with their own agendas to cause division in communities”.
The Labour councillor adds that raising flags to celebrate England and the United Kingdom’s “success and achievements” should be supported. But she warns that “the raising of flags as part of an anti-immigration protest creates fear and division, especially when raised after dark by masked men”.
Cllr Bustin’s motion calls on the council to take several actions, including increasing the delivery of “genuinely affordable homes” on the Isle of Dogs and “target investment to left-behind areas”.
But it also calls on the council to “be on the right side of history, be anti-racist, call out racist behaviour and narratives, and stand up to the far-right”.
It continues: “Tower Hamlets also has a well known history of standing up to oppression and fascism, from the Battle of Cable Street, to the riots following the murder of Altab Ali, and the election of a BNP councillor in 1993.
“Each of these events brought the diverse communities together to fight the far right and kick them out of our borough.”
Cllr Bustin’s call will be debated as Labour’s official motion to a meeting of all councillors on Wednesday 8 October.
