Civic pride comes from strength of communities - Susan Rae

Councillor Susan Rae

But we know – from the far right mobilising in Erskine, planned demonstrations in Glasgow and previous Scottish Defence League "rallies” in Edinburgh – that Scotland isn’t immune to the racist, Islamophobic and anti-immigrant mobs we’ve seen in England and Northern Ireland this month.

So I think what people really mean is that – if it does happen here, (and there is no indication that it will), we won’t stand for it. People in Edinburgh are ready to come out in defence of our neighbours if needed.

In his Evening News column this month, my counterpart in the Conservative Party spoke about the need for more “civic pride” in Edinburgh. Of course he’s talking about roads upkeep, grass cutting and graffiti removal. But for me, civic pride comes from the strength of our communities – the mutual aid groups that supported the most vulnerable during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Facebook groups where people share their belongings and advice freely and willingly, the pro-peace marches still taking place every Saturday in defence of Palestine.

And just like city maintenance, supporting communities to thrive is part of the job of the council. We can’t stop fascists using local authority powers – and nor should we be attempting to set dangerous precedents of limiting protest – but we can enable anti-fascists to respond, through investing in volunteer groups, supporting trade unions, and being bold in our statements of support.

Of course, this stuff all costs money (aye, that old chestnut), to refurbish community centres, offer grants to groups working with new Scots, to train frontline staff to deal with hate crimes. All those things that might not seem that important, until they suddenly are. The successive underfunding of local authorities have seen the decimation of community cohesion work, of third sector funding, education programmes, and improving people’s lives enough so they don’t turn round and point the finger at the latest group vilified by the far-right. The rise of fascism and far-right activity is not something with an easy fix.

We were pleased that, at our request, the council leader explicitly used the word racism in his statement condemning the violence. It’s been ridiculous to see other politicians skirting around the words when everyone can plainly see that attacks on mosques, anti-immigrant signs and the hounding of black and brown people is racist and Islamophobic at its heart. And the chants of "Stop the Boats” show us just how important – and dangerous – the words of politicians can be.

The Edinburgh Greens get one column in this paper a month, and we always discuss what to use it for. Should we talk about using the transient visitor levy for social housing? Celebrate our wins for active travel at Transport Committee? Condemn the SNP’s cuts to social security when they could instead tax the wealthy?

But given the lesson we have all been given about the importance of the rhetoric of politicians and the media, it was clear that this month we shouldn’t miss the opportunity to say loudly and clearly; we welcome and support all people in Edinburgh. But if you choose to be racist, spread hatred, and join with fascists, expect resistance.

Susan Rae is Co-Convener, Edinburgh Greens