14 June 2026

Brighton Remains Britain’s Anti-Fascist Capital - Over 5,000 Took to the Streets to Say – ‘No Nazis in Our City’ Despite the Best Efforts of Sussex Police

From Oswald Moseley in the 30s to the Neo-Nazis of Today’s ‘Patriots’, Brighton Remains a No-Go Area for Fascism

UPDATE



This is another perspective on the anti-fascist mobilisation on June 13th when we stopped the fascists. I was with the anti-fascists at 7 Dials before making my way down to Trafalgar Street. It highlights how the Police, who you will remember are always very concerned about ‘anti-Semitism’ did their utmost to force a way through for the fascists as they did in the 30s for the open anti-Semitic British Union of Fascists.

Despite the Police violence there were too many of us and the fascists had to hide behind the Police unable to go anywhere without police protection. The Police however were not successful and in the end gave up and the fascists in the end went back home on the trains having had an excellent view of the railway station!

By Brighton Red (A Unite Activist)

Battle lines

At around 10am antifascists began filling the square outside Brighton train station.

Police formed rows to push antifascist locals away from fascists congregating outside The Grand Central pub.

At the same time the first line of antifascist defence was formed at the bottom of Terminus Rd (opposite the side gates that gain entry to the station). The intention was to stop the fascists marching along their intended route up Terminus Road to Seven Dials and beyond.

First line of defence on Terminus Road.

There were antifascists behind us but rows of police had cut them off, so we couldn’t get reinforcements.

We could see antifascists in the square outside the station but they were cut off from us by police vans and row upon row of police.

We could see anti-fascist comrades congregating at Guildford Road and eventually some fascists made it as far as The Sussex Yeoman, where there were some scuffles. The pub was  duly surrounded by antifascists and the fascists had to be rescued by police !

First line of defence on Terminus Road.

The Battle of Terminus Road (10.45am  – 2.30pm)

At the bottom of Terminus Road things began to get nasty from about 10.45am - 11am, as police tried to clear us out of the way for the fascists.

Several ranks of riot police were formed and they began pushing and punching protestors in the head and face, kicking, even grabbing one antifascist by the hair and dragging him. It was very violent. I saw people being violently thrown around, elbows pushed into protestors necks and punches and kicks from police.

Although we had limited numbers we wouldn’t move. Antifascists were pushing back against the lines of riot police. Police then brought out mounted police who tried to smash through and clear us out.

First line of defence on Terminus Road

We still held the line and horses backed off as we stayed solid.

Eventually the numbers of police plus mounted police started to move us backwards. We were violently pushed to one side and smashed against the metal railings.

Eventually we were pushed back towards the top of Trafalgar Street but eventually we were able to rejoin comrades further up Terminus Road who were being attacked by police. Some were being violently pushed down side streets as the police sought to divide us.

Police continuously used rows to push us back, followed by charges by mounted police.

Despite this it took hours for the police to make any progress.

The Bottom of Terminus Road - The Police Were Unable to Force a Path Forward For the Fascists

After several hours we were pushed back towards the top of Terminus Road. The fascists hadn’t moved far from the station. They were way behind rows of police vans not far from the station.

At the top of Terminus Road we were joined by comrades from Seven Dials who provided much needed reinforcements. Unfortunately the police formed rows behind us again to  cut off any more antifascists joining from Seven Dials.

We were exhausted but would not move, in fact we started to push back against the police and started to make some ground at a few points.

Anti-fascist banners at the front ranks included one large one in the centre “Unite the union members against racism – fascism – Zionism” and Unite members and other comrades held it up during confrontations with police. There were banners from unions such as NEU and Brighton and Hove Trades Council. Banners supporting trans rights, LGBTQ+ and anti-fascist banners made a fantastic spectacle as we stood in solidarity.

After one final concerted effort to move us back the police realised they could not move us backwards. The mounted police were withdrawn and eventually the riot police replaced by regular police.

In a humiliating blow for the fascists and a firm rejection of everything they stand for Brighton residents forced the police backwards and the fascists were routed down Trafalgar Street.

Anti-fascists moved down towards Trafalgar Street.

The Battle of Trafalgar Street (3pm – 5pm)

Thousands of anti-fascists had formed a loud and intense block on Trafalgar Street. People lined up outside the Albert pub and outside Alushi Lebanese restaurant and Trafalgar Arches.

We chanted and sang and taunted the fascists as they were stuck in the tunnel behind rows of riot police. The mounted police did not reappear but the police were just as determined to clear a path for the fascists : using batons, riot shields, some sort of pepper spray and they were violently pushing and grabbing antifascists.

Brighton residents did not move, despite the intense pressure and lines of riot police. We pushed back and progress was virtually non-existent.

Eventually after pushing and shopping and attacking local people the police could see nothing but a sea of protestors.

There were loud jeers and taunts from locals : “You’re going home, you’re going home, you’re going – fascists going home” and “You’re stuck in a tunnel …” and lots of witty banter and songs.

The police could not move us.

The fascists could see they had lost. They began to walk back to the station with heads down.

They did not pass !

Brighton beat the fascists !

Racist Scum off our Streets

As I documented in my book, Brighton has been a no go area for fascists and racists for nearly a century. From the time of Moseley’s British Union of Fascists in the 30s, the Union Movement in the 40s, the National Front in the 70s and 80s, the EDL in 2012 and the SE Patriots today, Brighton people have fiercely resisted fascism.

                              Heidi can't cope with anti-fascists. She prefers fascists and neo-Nazis

As Sussex Friends of Israel and Heidi Bachram, the Goy Zionist, racist and police nark make clear, whereas once upon a time there were Zionists, like Lord Lewis Cohen of Brighton who were involved in anti-fascist activity, today the Zionists work with fascists and neo-Nazis.

What a shame! The Nazis stuck in a tunnel!

‘This is What Community Looks Like’ was one of the favourite slogans of yesterday’s anti-fascist mobilisation. Thousands of people, young and old, took pride in the fact that Brighton says no to the purveyors of hate and racism.

Anti-fascist protesters surround the Sussex Yeoman pub where some fascists had taken refuge

The slogan also reflects the fact that it wasn’t just the 5,000+ demonstrators who were saying no to the fascists but the community as a whole. Householders came out to support the demonstrators and helped us circumvent police cordons.

As usual Sussex Police, who purport to be concerned about ‘hate’ crime when it comes to defending Zionists (they call it ‘anti-Semitism’) were once again doing their best to force a racist march through our city.


 

In 2012 when the English Defence League marched in Brighton the fascists got less than a quarter of the way along their intended route before the Police shoved them down Church Street.

The Battle of Trafalgar Street, Brighton 13 June 2026

This time the fascists barely got out of Brighton station. Having failed to march towards the 7 Dials area, a third of a mile, they were trapped in the tunnel underneath the station in Trafalgar Street. They didn’t get to see the sea or get some Brighton rock!

Having been trapped underneath the station the fascists were led back to the station so that the rats could travel back to the sewers they reside in.

Brighton Will Be Fascist Free - Fascists Prevented from Marching to the 7 Dials

One major difference with last time was the proliferation of Palestinian  flags. Brighton’s anti-racists made it very clear that our anti-racism is indivisible. Anti-racism is international or it is nothing which meant we also opposed the apartheid State of Israel. The only thing missing was the usual Israeli flags on the fascist march.


 

There was a time, in the distant past, when Zionists like Miriam Karlin were supporters of anti-fascism. When I was Secretary of Brighton Anti-Nazi League in the 70s and 80s we had some young Zionists who took part in our work, although even then the Board of Deputies were more concerned about anti-Zionism  than opposition to neo-Nazis.

Today no Zionist makes any pretence to anti-fascism. Tommy Robinson openly identifies as a Zionist. Donald Trump is their best friend. Islamophobia and Zionism go together like Hansel and Gretel. The BOD is stuffed with Islamophobes and fascist apologists.

The whole of Saturday was one joyful celebration of anti-racism and anti-fascism. ‘Refugees are welcome here’ was a constant slogan rebutting the BBC/Reform narrative that migrants and refugees are a ‘problem’. Instead of the miserable Reform types who are always looking for someone who is weak to blame for society’s problems we had people coming together and feeling our collective strength.

Capitalism atomises people whereas socialism is about coming together. That is why one of Thatcher’s main reforms in trade union law was to stop mass meetings calling strikes and instead relegate everything to secret ballots which judges could then overturn on absurd procedural grounds.

The real problem we face is capitalism which cannot provide for peoples’ basic needs and which results in the use of divide and rule tactics as scapegoats are needed for the survival of the system. Billionaires and Corporate vultures are the real problem but as they finance Reform and Restore there is no chance that Farage and Rupert Lowe will have any solutions to the real problems people face. Capitalism depends on dividing the poor against another.


The Zionists though have a problem. Heidi Bachram, the living embodiment of Zionist ugliness and evil, took to Twitter to express her venom. She called the fascists the ‘Stop the-boats people’ rather than what they are. As if they are Luddites who want people to travel by water!

What most concerned her was the ‘anti-Jewish haters’ among the anti-racists. It is strange that Bachram considers anti-fascist as anti-Jewish. This says everything about the political degeneration of Zionism or maybe the fact that it’s becoming more honest about what it really stands for.

Bachram, like most Zionists, deliberately conflates anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. Strangely enough I didn’t hear one anti-Jewish comment on the demonstration nor did all the other Jews who were on the demonstrations. What we did see was Hitler salutes from the ‘anti-boat’ people. But no doubt they were merely an ‘awkward gesture.’

What Bachram was really concerned about was opposition to Zionism which she alleges is supported by 90% of Jews. In fact less than 2/3 of British Jews today declare they are Zionists.

In the United States, the largest Jewish community outside Israel, the figures are even more stark. Nearly half, 44%, of American Jews under 35 support a one-state solution and 24% of American Jews also support a one-state solution. As the Jewish Forward said, they are ‘functionally anti-Zionist’.

But even if 90% of Jews supported Zionism would that mean being anti-Zionist is anti-Jewish?  If you oppose the political ideas of people does that mean you oppose their very being? Obviously not.

Since most Jews who died in the Nazi holocaust  were not Zionists then according to this idiot Zionist then the majority of the Jews killed in the holocaust were anti-Semitic!

Bachram is deliberately stupid (no I take that back, she might be genuinely stupid).  Opposing an identity doesn’t mean opposing the people themselves.

The reality is that Zionism and anti-Semitism are two sides of the same coin. As Theodor Herzl noted in his  diaries, ‘the anti-Semites will be our most dependable friends, the anti-Semitic countries our allies.’

Saturday 13th June was a magnificent example of what the majority of Brighton people think about fascists, Zionists and neo-Nazis. The 100 or so fascist rats failed entirely in their endeavours.


It is also noteworthy that there was virtually no presence from the Labour Party. Just one solitary Brighton and Hove Labour Party banner. When I came to Brighton over 50 years ago and helped set up the Brighton and Hove Anti-Fascist Committee the Labour Party together with the Trades Council was integrally involved in fighting fascism.

Today their MPs in Brighton and Hove, Chris Ward – the invisible Starmer clone for Kemptown, Chris Ward and Peter ‘killer’ Kyle, the vile MP for Hove have politics which are similar to that of Reform and the ‘patriots’.

We have seen the death of the Labour Party politically and at the next General Election perhaps the death of the party altogether. The story of the Labour Party may be that of the two Kiers – one Kier Hardy helped found it and Keir Starmer helped finish it off.

Tony Greenstein

See Fighting the Fascists at the Dome


 

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