Anti-fascists stop traffic as they march against far-right meeting

Brighton anti-fascists protested in Brighton on Saturday evening against a meeting for supporters of the far right Italian party La Lega.

Scores of protesters brought traffic to a halt in North Street at about 6pm after meeting in Sydney Street close to where the meeting is believed to be taking place.

The party was selling £28 tickets for a supporters’ dinner at an undisclosed location.

Le Sardine di Brighton. Several hundred citizens of Brighton turn out for an impromptu anti fascist march when news breaks that Matteo Salvini is coming to town. pic.twitter.com/ToefOsAQNv

— Spike Geilinger (@PlanetSpike) March 7, 2020

The meeting was yesterday condemned by all three leaders of the city council’s political parties.

Green and Labour councillors also took part in today’s march.

Brighton & Hove #Labour & #GreenParty Councillors (and many, many others) at the protest to oppose the fascist La Lega. Brighton is antifascist. ✊🏿✊🏾✊🏻 pic.twitter.com/gTfuFr3oNl

— Cllr Marianna Ebel 🇪🇺 🏴‍☠️ (@CllrEbel) March 7, 2020

The party’s leader Matteo Salvini has called for “a mass cleansing” of Italy of foreigners and Roma people “street by street, piazza by piazza, neighbourhood by neighbourhood”.

He is currently awaiting trial for kidnapping for refusing to allow 131 migrants to disembark from a coastguard ship.

As Italy’s interior minister he refused to allow search and rescue teams helping migrants in the Mediterranean to dock in any Italian ports which prompted an investigation by the United Nations.

Local Lega administrations in Italy have begun creating “immigrant-free” zones in the towns they run.