WITH the growing popularity of figureheads like Tommy Robinson, the rapid expansion of far-right movements like Generation Identity, and white supremacist attacks such as the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting and the Christchurch massacre stacking up, the threat of the fascist right has never felt so immediate.

To combat it, the left must stand united — yet currently, we are anything but.

As such, we have been caught sleeping on our feet, a divided movement that too often is insular, rather than an outward-looking and ambitious body politic.

Petty inter-movement squabbles that see us consuming our own will achieve nothing except foster further division.

At the same time as we’re fighting each other, the far right is busy movement-building, bonded through its hatred and fear of the “other.”

This bonding through prejudice should never be underestimated; indeed, it’s in large part the reason why the fascists have got so far, so fast.

The media must undoubtedly bear some responsibility for the far right’s expansion.

Their continued platforming of fascism, such as the ghoulish speculation over Donald Trump’s various vulgarities in the run-up to the 2016 election, or the platforming of a Generation Identity spokesperson in the wake of the Christchurch massacre, has exposed these racists views to millions.

By framing Trump as the dangerous villain of the piece rather than reporting on him soberly in the early stages of the Republican race, the media played a crucial part in the spike in popularity he enjoyed, which formed due to the perception that he was an anti-hero battling against the “liberal media.”

In a recent Generation Identity newsletter, subscribers were told they had gained a massive platform for their views thanks to the BBC appearance.

However, athough more must be done to hold the media to account, the left must bear its share of blame too.

We have been too wrapped up in identity politics (idpol) to build a movement that has the hegemony to confront fascism wherever it manifests, which these days is not always in the form of blatant violence.

Fascist radicalisation often begins with irreverence, humour even. It is the casual flirtation with Islamophobic and racist tropes undertaken by figures like Milo Yiannopoulos that have become so prolific online, or the alt-right meme culture that proliferates on 8chan.

This type of humour works well today, especially because one of the tropes used against the left has been to label us as delicate “snowflakes” unable to take a joke or simply deal with the real world, demanding protection from reality via “trigger warnings” and “safe spaces.”

Humour against “snowflake culture” seems anarchic to some, yet while the impetus behind the “insult” is fascist — in its intent to rail against those wanting a fairer society — there is a kernel of truth in the moniker.

Identity politics threatens to paralyse the left, and will, if followed to its natural conclusion, lead to a disparate body politic, obsessed with navel gazing and witch-hunts, scattered into our various warring tribal factions.

Being against idpol is not the same as being for homophobia, Islamophobia, racism, misogyny or transphobia.

But the politics of idpol have become such that even long-time left heavyweights, such as George Galloway, are now falling foul of “wrong speak” ideology.

Galloway, who has been excoriated over his support for Brexit, has been accused by some leftists of being a racist over his stance on the EU.

On Twitter, the attacks have recently been so repeated that he was forced to speak out and defend himself against the accusations. The far right is growing stronger and bolder every day and will only benefit from the shambolic way the incumbent Tory government has handled the Brexit fiasco.

Several populist governments have been propelled to power in recent years, including the Trump administration, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Victor Orban in Hungary, and the coalition between the far-right League and anti-Establishment Five Star movement in Italy.

More far-right parties could yet present a challenge to the neoliberal status quo in a panopoly of other countries, including in France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and even Britain.

The fascists are not idling. Steve Bannon, alt-right Svengali and key player in The Movement, a think tank designed to connect far-right populist European groups, encouraged a 2018 audience of Front National members (renamed the Rassemblement National) to embrace the label “racist,” stating they should “wear it as a badge of honour,” and adding: “Every day, we get stronger and they get weaker.”

Bannon has now set his sights on the yellow jacket movement, saying: “The yellow jackets are great,” and adding: “They are self-organising, they are like the Tea Party in 2010.”

The yellow jackets, or gilets jaunes movement, is made up largely of working-class activists, disenfranchised by the wealth divide worsened by Emmanuel Macron’s neoliberal economic policies.

This cynical attempt by figures like Bannon to align themselves with grassroots working-class movements presents a significant danger for the left that should not be underestimated.

It is perilous precisely because we already have lost working-class support, and if we are not careful, could haemorrhage more to the populist right.

With idpol, and the politics of individual lifestyle, we have alienated a large part of our core support base, the working class.

The proletariat, who are struggling to keep a roof over their head, food on the table, find employment, or perform hours upon hours of underpaid work in service of the capitalist system, have little time to spend worrying about what labels they should use in their Twitter profile.

We must reach and represent the working class if we want to transform society. In fact, without reaching them, we cannot transform society.

True change is always at the grassroots, true socialist change always stems from the class of workers.

But at the moment, much of the working class is disillusioned with liberal-left identity politics, and the far right has benefited from some of this disillusionment.

Instead of tearing each other apart, we on the left must stand united, and show that we can offer the working class a real alternative.

The kind of politics we must focus on are the anti-austerity and renationalisation measures proposed by Jeremy Corbyn, the social allowance that would improve the lives of millions suggested by John McDonnell, and Labour’s proposals to offer free education to all and tackle the issue of homelessness.

These are the policies that have the power to transform lives, not circular identity politics that do not connect with people who are struggling to survive.

It goes without saying — or it should do at least — that any socialist movement must also be fervently anti-racist, anti-misogynist, anti-homophobic, and against bigotry in all its forms.

Yet accusations of bigotry must not be flung about casually and should not be levied against lefties and the working class because someone happened to use the wrong word or opposes a capitalist institution such as the EU.

Instead, any criticism should be rooted firmly in class analysis, and the understanding of how oppressive forces work to systemically disenfranchise a whole class of people.

When we approach it in this way, all becomes clear. We can look at the power of the right, at the share of the resources they own, and see the hegemony of the white, largely male-bodied, capitalist class.

We can see then that they pose a real danger, and with their divisive rhetoric, which aims to further disenfranchise already marginalised groups, they make plain their malignant intent.

Done this way, it’s easy to see where fascism truly lies. And it’s not on George Galloway’s doorstep.

We cannot continue to persecute and alienate the working class, nor stalwart leftist politicians, for not centring petty-bourgeoisie concerns such as idpol.

Often the argument for idpol is that it is simply a more thoroughgoing critique of all forms of fascism than the materialist left had so far been willing to undertake — yet ironically, if we continue to obsess over the minutiae of identity politics, we will give the far right an opportunity to sow the seeds of real fascism.

This is in fact, already happening, and soon we will have a serious problem on our hands if we want to rid ourselves of the resultant radicalisation.

The left must stop our internal battles and instead must unite to emerge as a powerful political force that can combat the growing fascist threat.