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Keep racism out of the general election
Boris Johnson ramped up his racist scapegoating of migrants with a new racist visa plan this week. His draconian plan would deny tens of thousands of migrants the right to live in Britain after Brexit. Migrants deemed “low skilled” would be shut out from the ability to apply for residency in Britain. They would only be allowed to stay in the country for a short period of work—and be forced to sign up to a migrants' database.
The attack comes on top of Tory plans to make all migrants pay a health surcharge on top of their visa fees.
Migrants from outside of the European Union have had to pay a charge—currently set at £400—since 2015. This will increase to £625 and it apply to all migrants, including those from EU member states.
Such scapegoating will drive up racism and racist attacks. We call on everyone to use their vote this Thursday against Johnson's racism.
With hate crime and far-right terrorism continuing to rise, the stakes of keeping racism out of forthcoming General Election are incredibly high.
Prime minister Boris Johnson’s outrageous “bank robbers” and “letterbox” comments about women who choose to wear the niqab were followed by a 375 per cent increase in Islamophobic attacks in the following week. Nigel Farage's "breaking point" poster during the EU referendum was reported to the police as a “blatant attempt to incite racial hatred”
As a general election approaches and Johnson competes for votes with Nigel Farage, we can expect this rhetoric to worsen. Meanwhile, the far-right UKIP will be targeting seats in their remaining strongholds by pursuing an even more extreme agenda.
To combat this, we have to mobilise the anti-racist majority and make sure racism can't be used for electoral gain.
The first urgent step is a massive voter registration drive to make sure anti-racists are registered to vote. And when campaigning officially starts, we'll be working with groups across the country to encourage candidates to sign up to a pledge to keep racism out of the election, and condemn any candidates or parties trying to use racism to win votes.
We can only do this with your support. Every penny you donate will go towards:
- Leafleting as many areas as possible in the General Election to encourage people to #VoteAgainstRacism
- Adverts in local press, to mobilise the anti-racist vote
- A social media campaign condemning any candidates who try to use racism to win votes
- Travel expenses for volunteers to campaign across the country
Winter Appeal
Keep them warm and safe
Financial donations are the most useful. These mean that Care4Calais can buy the supplies they need, when they need them. They also keep the vehicles on the road for distributions and keep the warehouse running.
Use the collection sheet to do a collection at work or in your community or organisation. Donations can be made through the website at care4calais.org
• £25 buys a winter coat
• £15 buys a waterproof jacket
• £20 buys a pair of boots
• £2 buys a tarpaulin
• £13 buys a set of clothes (T shirt, hoodie, joggers, socks, underwear)
• £8 buys a snug pack (scarf, hat, gloves & socks)
If you are sending goods to Calais, the most needed are:
Tents
Sleeping bags
Blankets
Tarpaulins
Winter coats (especially small & medium)
Boots (especially size 40 – 44)
Find a full list of needed items at care4calais.org Oxford Stand Up To Racism activists will be travelling to Calais on December 8th.
- Never Again - Lessons of the Holocaust exhibition. Saturday 18th January until Monday 27th January 2020. Oxford Town Hall, St Aldates
- February Stand Up To Racism Workplace & trade union conference in the new year
- March 21st - March Against Racism - for a #WorldAgainstRacism. There will be global protests, follow worldagainstracism.org for updates on the international plans for #M21
Email contact@oxfordstanduptoracism.org.uk if you would like to get involved with any of these campaigns.