“This is a march of Love”. Anti racists try to stop fascists from intimidating asylum seekers at their hotel.

Yesterday Nick Tenconi, the leader of UKIP, best known for his Nazi salutes, paraded a group of about 60 people through Sheffield to a hotel where asylum seekers are accommodated. If the march had been to a house belonging to a politician or a celebrity, no doubt the authorities would have stopped it. But because asylum seekers are treated as less than human, this march was deemed to be ok. So the police, in massive numbers, escorted the march and prevented anti racist demonstrators from blocking their way.

I was proud to be part of the thousand strong Stand Up to Racism crowd. This was the scene outside the Cathedral where we gathered. The march was supported by many groups including Anti-Racist Groups, Migrant Groups, Trade Unions, Churches, Mosques, the Green Party, Palestine Solidarity and many more.

Melinda opened the rally. She said “Today people have come to our city to bring hatred and division, and we need to send them a clear message. There is no space for that. Muslim, Christian, Catholic, it doesn’t matter where you come from, what your religion is, what your faith is, what your culture is. We are all brothers and sisters. I say that today because some people are using the Bible to bring hatred to our community. And we cannot allow that. I am a woman. I am a migrant. I am a Christian. And my God is a God of peace and is a God of love. The Palestinians are welcome here. The Sudanese are welcome here. All of them are welcome here. This is a welcoming city and we are the first City of Sanctuary and we need to feel proud of that.”

Green Councillor Alexi Dimond said, “We are the first City of Sanctuary in the country and we are proud of that. We will always come out and defend our communities. We will defend refugees and we will say refugees are welcome here, always. Tomorrow is Remembrance Sunday. And one of the things that we’re supposed to be commemorating tomorrow is the defeat of fascism, the defeat of Nazis in the Second World War. I want to ask a question. Why are we allowing out and out Nazis who do Sieg Heils to walk around in our streets? Is this what people died for? That is ridiculous. And I support free speech. Everyone should have free speech, but not hate speech. If you’re talking about killing people, if you’re talking about deporting our friends, that is not freedom of speech. That is hate speech. That is narcissism. That is fascism. We all know where that leads. We’re in a very dangerous moment in this country and in the world. So, we must all continue to oppose fascism, oppose Nazism, and stand with our communities, stand with our Muslim brothers and sisters, stand with refugees, stand with trans people, and say no to hate.”

Huw Thomas from Christchurch Pitsmoor said “Did you see the initial leaflet Cantoni put out? That was in the background. (pointing at the Cathedral) and it was a photoshop. It was as phony as the religion he’s putting about in his attempt to create racist division. People talking in that way, using religion in that way ,they do not speak for us. They do not speak for Christianity. That is not Christian. The right are coming for religion and they’re going to use it. They’ll be waving crosses. Honestly, it really makes me sick to think of that. They will be waving crosses today. They’re going to try and use religious difference to create racist division. This city, we just won’t let them. We’re just not going to let them. They won’t do it. And they won’t do it for two reasons. Number one, and I say this to my Muslim friends here today, the mosques have got the best food! I’m not going to miss out on the invites I get down to the mosque! But number two, the more serious one, the differences between us are so small. And this goes for all of us here today. The things that unite us are so much greater. And when I’m saying this, I do need as well to call out, as a Christian, UKIP’s homophobia. They would abolish gay marriage. No, no, no. And their transphobia. They will go for the gender recognition act if they get a chance. No. No. No. Not in our name. Not on our name. Mr. Tenconi, who thinks he’s in our name, he clearly doesn’t know Sheffield. He says he’s coming to reclaim our streets. I wasn’t aware they’d gone anywhere. I mean, Fargate’s been mushed around a bit over the years, but I wasn’t aware they’d gone anywhere. Nick Tenconi, you do not know Sheffield.

What do Sheffield people say? How do they greet each other? What’s the most common word Sheffield people use? Now, I’m an incomer. I’ve only been here 38 years, so I’m not going to say it properly. Sheffield does. You say it with me. “LUV“. Come on, Sheffielders. Shout it out, please. That’s how Sheffielders greet each other. LUV. And that’s what this is all about. That’s what we’re about. Never let this be called a hate march. This is a love march. This is a march of love.

And Sheffield has big arms. And those big arms welcome the asylum seeker. Welcome the refugee straight off the small boat. You are welcome here. We’ve been a City of Sanctuary. That campaign started 20 years ago. We’ve been a City of Sanctuary for 18 years.Refugees, asylum seekers, you have been welcome here. And as I look at this crowd today now, I can confidently say you will be welcomed here. You will always be welcome here. Welcome to Sheffield Cathedral. Say it loud. Say it clear. Refugees are welcome here. “

Finally Rafia spoke as a muslim woman and a member of the NEU. She said, ” It’s so great to see so many people, all here for a common cause, and that is to spread the message of peace and love and unity, not hatred and divide. What these racist fascists are actually here for. Thank you so much. I think I’m going to speak on behalf of the union really briefly, but also I think I’m speaking as a Muslim woman, as somebody of faith, as a woman of colour as well. It is quite a pretty scary time, but I think things like this, when we come together, it does give me that sense of hope as well that, we’re not alone. Like we said, I’ve lived in Sheffield most of my life. I was born in Leeds, lived in Sheffield most of my life, but I’ve never ever felt this vulnerable. And it’s quite sad to say that this is what 2025 is bringing for us. Yes, we’ve got serious issues in our society. Immigration is not an issue. This country has been built on migrants.

We just need to look at the history of this country. Every single person in this country has got some roots of migration in them. So for us to say it’s people of colour, it’s immigrants, that is not the cause of the problems that we are facing in society today. It’s actually the toxic Tory government that has trashed our country. And unfortunately, now our recent government needs to do a lot more as well to support vulnerable people and to stop this friction and divide that’s being caused in our society. Yes, we need to be having serious conversations about things. The cost of living crisis is sky-high. Education, as an educator as well, I feel very sorry for the kids that I have in my class. From teaching a class of 15, we now have a class of 30 plus students. So as you can imagine, the issues are huge. We are not providing the same provision for our kids in schools. But this is not because of immigrants. This is not because of people of colour. This is not because of marginalised groups. We need to hold the government to account. They are responsible for making these decisions. We need to make sure we pay tax. We contribute to this society in many, many ways. And what we need to make sure of is that we are holding our government and those people that are making the law to account.”

We then marched to Blonk Street. The police prevented us marching along High Street so we went round the back of the Cathedral to QueenStreet and Waingate. The police didn’t allow protesters to continue to the hotel so we had to be content to protest in the Grey to Green area between the two bridges, next to the Castle excavations.

Eventually the UKIPers marched past, waving flags of St George, Union Jacks, an Indian flag and a flag saying “lest we forget”.

The anti racists were then prevented from leaving until much later when a much smaller procession of UKIPers marched back again, to head for city centre pubs.

Some anti racists were arrested as a result of trying to prevent the UKIPers from continuing the march to the hotel.

Here’s some video of the march.

And here is some video of the fantastic 5 Rivers Rising Samba Fusion band and some singing from the crowd.

There will be another opportunity to show Sheffield is an anti-racist city on Saturday, 22nd November. South Yorkshire Unites Against Racism and Hate will assemble at Devonshire Green at 11.30am.