My name is Louis Stephen I’m a Green Party councillor on Worcester’s city council.

I don’t want to be here.

We shouldn’t need to be here but be here we must.

Thank you to Worcester Trades Council

A sincere thank you to everyone for coming to stand up to racism and violent thuggery.

Some might say that we should not be creating a fuss, maybe that we should be quiet to calm things down – it’s an attractive idea – I don’t want to be here but be here we must.

The reason? We must show the racists that we will never be cowed and that we are the many they are few.

The racist protesters have been chanting “stop the boats”. We all know where this poisonous rhetoric has come from. This MUST be a wake-up call to all politicians who have actively promoted or given in to the rhetoric of immigration being a threat to this country. These riots didn’t happen just overnight they started when the last government started to scapegoat and other people coming to this country. They took a populist stance to divide and conquer with all their talk of illegal immigrants, the years of austerity, the creation of deliberate hostile environment. I say refugees are welcome

Let’s be clear, hatred and organised political violence of those who come to intimidate our communities has no place here and we stand proudly against Islamophobia, racism and all forms of hate.

I thank the police for their efforts to contain those intent on violence and maintain safety in the city, and thank everyone who has come out in peaceful support of the UK as a tolerant and welcoming country. Our work now is to unite – in Worcester and nationally – to support those who feel unsafe and targeted by this hatred, and to build that unity against the far-right’s racism, Islamophobia and violence.

Thank you