The recent 'far right' attacks on our communities have caused significant harms and created a climate of fear which needs to be addressed. These attacks have targeted migrant, racialised minority, Muslim, Jewish and LGBTQ communities. They have attacked individuals, property, both residential and commercial, and community facilities.

Our position is clear. We know that housing movements have always had a key role within antifascist and antiracist movements. Our local branches have responded and provided info on what to do if you are worried about your situation.

There is a long history of politicians and the media stoking hatred of migrants and racialised minorities in Britain. These actions have been designed to deflect from the realities of poverty, lack of adequate employment and inadequate housing. Recent events follow the demonisation of asylum seekers, Islamophobia and racialised minorities by politicians and the press with the hostile environment creating internal borders, the Windrush scandal that meant many long-standing residents lost the right to stay or to access services such as health and welfare support, and most recently, the campaign against small boats. The organisers of these attacks have clear racist motives and can justifiably be described as fascists. There are many who have absorbed the messages from the media and politicians, who are dissatisfied with the impact of austerity, failing public services and lack of access to safe, affordable and secure housing to meet their needs, who are directing their anger at others in the same situation.

There is also a long history of resistance to fascism in Britain and Manchester which we draw upon. We remember the response to Moseley in the 1930s here in Manchester, the Jewish Lads Brigade that formed for community self-defence in Cheetham Hill, and the Irish mass pickets of fascist rallies at Hulme Town Hall. We take stock of the resistance to the National Front in the 1970s, such as the resistance marches in Manchester and the formation of the Manchester branches of the Asian Youth Movement and the solidarity with others facing similar struggles across the country. More recently we recall the successful fight against the BNP and EDL in the 2000s and 2010s. In our city's past fascism has been successfully opposed by an antiracist and multiracial coalition. So too must it be today.

Our position is clear. We know that housing movements have always had a key role within antifascist and antiracist movements - whether we think of the Stepney Tenant Defence League in 1930s East London, or the Moss Side Housing Action Group here in Manchester in the 1970s.

Nearly four years ago we steered the Greater Manchester Tenants Union towards proactive anti-racism. As a Union, we have organised to fight the housing conditions that disproportionately affect Black communities; and worked in neighbourhoods where the far right seek to gain a foothold, addressing people's material concerns and challenging narratives of hate. And yet, this work is far from over.

We pledge to ensure the Union doubles down upon this work and continues to position itself as part of a broader anti-racist movement in society, working together with campaigns beyond housing, standing in solidarity with struggles against the rise of the far right, police violence against racialised communities, and the hostile environment.