On Saturday 23rd August, Nick Macaroni’s UK Independence Party (UKIP) was due to march through Liverpool for the latest stop on their ‘Mass Deportations’ tour. It’s fair to say things didn’t go entirely to plan for Tagliatelle’s purple shirts.
The Kippers were to assemble outside St George’s Hall at 1pm for a 2 mile march towards Toxteth. In response, Stand Up to Racism (SUTR) and Merseyside Antifascist Network (MAFN) called midday counter demos nearby. By the time our SCARF delegation rolled into town at 12.15pm, a group of 50-100 UKIP supporters were surrounded by antifascists. Meanwhile, down by Lime Street, another crowd gathered behind the MAFN banner, blocking the intended march route.
UKIP surrounded at their assembly point
WHICH WAY, SPAGHETTI WESTERN MAN?
By 1.30pm the fascist crowd had swelled to about 250 people, and Nick Tortellini arrived to lead his flock. Police mobilised to herd them North in a deviation from the original route. Presumably they hoped to then take them East on London Road, avoiding most of the local resistance. This plan quickly fell apart as it was clear locals weren’t content to passively watch events unfold, and they formed a formidable barrier slowing the combined police and UKIP advance. Police had underestimated Liverpool’s opposition to a fascist march across their city, and they briefly lost control of the situation. Small groups of fascists and antifascists found themselves on either side of police lines. In the confusion, a number of heated political debates broke out, with at least one bonehead bowled over by a particularly vociferous articulation of left-wing praxis.
Realising they weren’t going to pass, police helped UKIP beat a hasty retreat back the other way, hoping they could take advantage of the now thinned opposition lines back by Lime Street. Despite picking up the pace, Fettuccine’s bootboys only made it as far as the southern corner of St George’s Hall, where they were halted once again. Heavily outnumbered and surrounded, the fascists looked crestfallen as they waited for police to conjure them a way out of this sticky situation.
Stuck, directionless at the junction of Hood Street
¡YA PASTA!
Even the army of far-right streamers in attendance struggled to rustle up some swill for their piggies. It seems an impotent and immobile gaggle of boneheads being jeered by all and sundry isn’t the content their followers are looking for. Every North East vulture had apparently made the journey, including MKR Audits, My Brakes Don’t Work, EnglishNed, Brexit Brian, Young Bob, and their patron saint Charlie Veitch with his private security goons.
Eventually, just after 2pm, the police had managed to create enough space to squeeze the marchers along St John’s Lane. In order to flank this third attempt at a march, antifascists had to run around the side streets, hassled by baton wielding coppers determined to protect their friends. With the counter demos splintered, Pastina’s patriots managed their longest shuffle of the day – about 200 yards to William Brown Street, before the unwashed masses stopped them once again.
Resigned to merely getting the demo back to its start point, police violently forced the line up towards Steble Fountain giving them enough breathing room to create a safe space for the fash against the eastern wall of St George’s Hall. Once in their pen, Nick Bucatini hoped to raise morale with a pisspoor attempt at a rally. Most attendees weren’t particularly interested in what he had to say, more concerned with the crowd of barracking locals, and he was soon spirited away by his handlers.
End of the line, UKIP back were they began. Defeated and deflated.
An early bath for one of Cannelloni's disciples, note the complete lack of fucks given by his fellow 'patriots'
The UKIP remnants quickly melted away too, with many leaving town or retreating to a friendly pub as quickly as possible. The only stragglers left behind were some scallies too young to drink, and a few YouTubers fighting over scraps. With little left to be gained, and a job well done, SCARF upped sticks too, and started the journey back across the Peaks.
GNOCCHI’D DOWN, BUT NOT BEATEN
The day wasn’t without a few minor blemishes, police managed to successfully arrest at least a couple of antifascists, slightly higher opposition numbers might have seen the day ended even earlier, and the urge to feed the streamers should be resisted more. They should either be robustly countered (as happened a few times), or completely ignored. Providing these bad faith actors with content will only fuel their rise, so don’t engage with them. They make a living by pushing out videos promoting fascist causes, portraying antifascists in a bad light, and doxxing us for the benefit of police and racist thugs.
There were many concurrent actions across the country this weekend, with decidedly mixed results. Fascists were humiliated in Bristol and Leicester, while closer to home in Wakefield the racist hotel picket heavily outnumbered the opposition. How, when, and where to successfully counter the whack-a-mole nature of today’s far right is sure to be a subject of reflection and debate in the days and weeks to come.
Liverpool has always been somewhat different to the rest of the country, but today it demonstrated one way these bastards can be stopped and sent packing. Although today’s action is probably not directly replicable everywhere, it can be built upon to start reversing this current wave of populist shite-wing nonsense.
They did not pass.