Wrexham Anti-Racist Network originally formed in late 2009, under the banner of Wrexham Communities Against Racism, to provide a counter event to a protest by the English/Welsh Defence League in the town of Wrexham, and to bring together existing anti-racist and working class activists to challenge the BNP and EDL locally.
At a time when dole queues are getting longer, rents are rising, the public services we all rely on are being cut to the bone, and ordinary people are faced with limited choices at the ballot box, the far right offer a radical alternative which can be appealing to sections of the working class.
In the absence of a strong pro-working class alternative at the ballot box, this leaves the field open to the far right to present themselves as the only radical option outside of the political mainstream – a political mainstream which has created the conditions needed for the far right to thrive.
The BNP, the EDL and the far right do not offer a genuine alternative. The far right, now and always, is anti-working class as well as racist. They oppose the trade union movement; they offer no alternatives to the vicious cuts programme and the greatest attack on ordinary people in generations; they divide us when we need to be united; and they support the status quo of an unequal society.
However, inequality, pressure on jobs, homes and public services, and the scapegoating legitimised by media and mainstream politicians alike, will ensure that the vicious blame-game perpetrated by right-wing organisations will continue to pose a threat.
WARN takes the unequivocal view that working class people need to unite and fight the greatest attack on our quality of life in living memory, not falsely lay the blame at each others feet.
Whilst the network does not represent the views of any specific political party, the collective political angle of WARN could accurately be described as pro-working class and pro-community.
WARN is and will remain a wholly independent local alliance of activists and campaigners. We will however seek to forge links with other groups promoting pro-working class antifascism and a class-based response to the far right.
The network welcomes the help and assistance of all fellow anti-racist and anti-fascist campaigners and organisations. However, we feel strongly that WARN should retain its political independence, and particularly that racism and scapegoating is best overcome at a community level. We therefore feel that a network based within the communities of Wrexham is the best vehicle to overcome the lies and manipulations of the far right.
We believe that the way to challenge the far right is to organise our communities from within. As such, WARN invites community organisations and local trade union branches to affiliate to the network.
We aim to provide a platform not only for individuals opposed to discrimination, but also for community and workers’ organisations within the Wrexham area.
Our purpose is simple; to challenge, ideologically and on the streets, the racists and fascists who seek to divide our community.
Wrexham Anti-Racist Network 