THE SMALL TOWN BETWEEN EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW HAS BECOME FERTILE GROUND FOR THE FAR RIGHT FOLLOWING YEARS OF CUTS AND COLLAPSING LOCAL SERVICES ~ Scott Harris ~ Antifascists from all over Scotland gathered in Falkirk on 6 December to counter the fascist protest outside the Cladhan Hotel. The group “Save Our Futures and Our Children’s Futures” (SOF) has held weekly protests outside the hotel for months, providing space and a platform for some of Scotland’s most recognisable fascists, in a veritable “who’s who” of the Scottish far right.   Around 20 autonomous antifascists arrived at the hotel shortly before 11am, facing an already hostile crowd of roughly 50 far-right activists. Police presence at the hotel remained minimal, despite intelligence that fascists were planning to disrupt the anti-racist march organised by Stand Up To Racism (SUTR) and local group Farkirk For All (FFA). The situation escalated sharply when Aberdeen Against Illegal Migration (AAIM) arrived by the busload, swelling fascist numbers to between 150 and 200. Chants of “Send them back” and “Keep Scotland white” echoed across the police line, along with the usual abuse directed towards antifascist counter-protesters. A small group eventually broke off from the SUTR/FFA march and joined the defence of the hotel, informing autonomous antifascists that the main demo would soon follow. When SUTR finally arrived, over two hours after the far-right had gathered, the balance of numbers tipped, but the fascists also became more aggressive, throwing rocks, glass bottles, smoke bombs, and other projectiles at the counter-demo, injuring at least one person badly enough to require hospitalisation. A member of the autonomous bloc stated: “I believe this was because the fascists are well aware that Stand Up To Racism are extremely unlikely to defend themselves”. Projectiles were thrown back at the fascists, despite the protestations of SUTR/FFA, who would rather turn the other cheek and collaborate with the police than support antifascist self-defence. According to a participant, “we were able to demonstrate to the fascists that not everyone will allow themselves to be attacked without retaliation”. Additional tensions were sparked when members of the SWP attempted to sell their papers, proving that counter-protests often tend to be little more than photo opportunities for such organisations. Anarchists present focused on sharing masks among counter-protesters, to mitigate doxxing campaigns by the fascists and surveillance by the state; these efforts were successful despite protestations by SUTR, who discourage masking. SUTR and FFA dispersed at around 2:30pm, well before the advertised dispersal time of the fascists. Around 40 antifascists decided to remain, enduring another two hours of violent threats, racist chants and misogynistic abuse, but holding the line until AAIM left for their buses. The remaining antifascists departed collectively and safely as a bloc, at 4:30pm. Saturday’s mobilisation highlights both the rising confidence of the far right in Scotland, as well as the desperate need for autonomous, grassroots antifascist organising. While the far-right’s ability to gather over 200 violent protesters is nothing if not worrying, autonomous antifascists from across Scotland collaborated closely with one another, outside of collaborationist structures: “Building rapport and trust between various autonomous networks will be key to building an effective resistance to fascists across Scotland”, a comrade from Glasgow concluded. The post Scottish antifascists hold the line in Falkirk appeared first on Freedom News.