They will represent a passionate rejection of anti-Muslim hatred,
immigrant-scapegoating and refugee-bashing, not just in the US, but here
in Britain, too. They will offer a reminder that powerful vested
interests – including plutocrats such as Trump – should be blamed for
our social and economic woes, not those fleeing foreign violence and
persecution. They will promote feminism and women’s rights in defiance
of a self-confessed harasser of women. They will champion the cause of
trans rights against the transphobe-in-chief, who has singled out this
minority to be excluded from the US military. They will advance the
cause of saving the planet from a climate change crisis exacerbated by
Trumpism. They will challenge the warmongering of Trump’s
administration, which threatens the lives of tens of millions of people.
And they will seek to unite progressives from either side of the
Atlantic in these common causes. The mirror image of Trumpism will be on
the streets.
May’s government is weak, shambolic and crisis-ridden. The last thing
it wants or needs is mass protests on the streets. As soon as Trump
touches down on British soil, this is what will happen. That is their
choice. The biggest carnival against hatred this country has ever seen
awaits. From LGBT rights to women’s rights, from workers’ rights to
anti-racism, we already know that protest works. Both May and Trump
deserve to learn this instructive lesson.
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