Southport councillor Sean Halsall stood as an independent in the 2024 general election, warning that Keir Starmer’s Labour Party would simply become “a midwife for fascism”. And as the far right pounced on the town to take advantage of an awful tragedy in recent days, we spoke to Halsall again.
He told us:
The community in Southport is in shock after [Tuesday and] last night. Before we’ve had to chance to collectively grieve and mourn the loss of that brutal senseless attack. All through yesterday we saw on social media elements of the organised far right organising to bring hate and more heartache to our town.
And he suggests that the police weren’t ready for what happened, saying:
The situation seems to me to be a police force not equipped to deal with the numbers that or intent of those wanting to cause chaos. I’m thankful for the emergency services that were there. But it felt like the threats weren’t taken seriously.
Addressing the nature of the people involved, he asserted that:
The rioters seems to be a mix of the nations far right, with a few BNP names being pointed out to me at the vigil, Patriotic Alternative and EDL. There were a few local people but the majority seemed to be from far and wide.
Southport: hope will prevail
Responding to Jeremy Corbyn’s insistence that the answer to the horrors of recent days are hope, solidarity and unity, he said:
Jeremy Corbyn is 100% correct. We don’t heal our communities by using hate. We don’t unite by allowing ourselves to be divided. We don’t build a better society by destroying our community.
And one aspect of hope he sees is the community spirit in the aftermath:
On Tuesday we saw the insidious nature of the far right. The next morning we saw the good and humanity from the collective spirit of the community clearing up the devastation caused last night, I take hope from that, our community will not be divided. We will face down the people who intend to divide us and tell them they aren’t welcome in our town, our community will reject that message of hate
Featured image via Sky News – YouTube
