Just before Christmas, I attended a conference about protecting democracy in Europe. On the surface, that sounds like something many of us across charities and trade unions would welcome, right? After all, democracy shapes the conditions of all our lives – from whose voices are heard, whose are not, and what’s put in place around our rights at work, access to services and welfare and civil liberties.
But this was not a conference I felt comfortable attending. It was organised by a far-right think tank, funded by an Eastern European government that has steadily dismantled democratic checks and balances, and supported by a network of far-right political parties across Europe. The room included delegates from Europe, the US and the UK. I won’t name names. They already have enough platforms.
I went because, in today’s world, understanding the far-right is a practical necessity. These are people with money, power and increasingly sophisticated strategies to gather more. If we want to defend the communities we serve and the rights we enjoy, we need to understand how they see the world and what they are organising against.
Over the coming days, I’ll be sharing what I learned to help charities and trade unions recognise the narratives being built and prepare to challenge them.
Today, I want to start with something fundamental: what the far-right believes is the biggest threat to democracy.
Are they concerned about dark money from powerful shadowy figures who want to manipulate the system to their own benefit?
Maybe they're worried about disinformation and deepfakes designed to undermine trust and manipulate people into believing things that are not true?
Or perhaps they think broken electoral systems that leave people feeling powerless and disillusioned are what is really threatening democracy as we know it?
The answer is none of the above.
According to the speakers in that room, the greatest threat to democracy is... people like me and you.
Yes, dear reader, the groups they said we should fear include:
People working for NGOs and charities
Journalists
Muslims
Migrants, especially people born outside of Europe who want to live, work and contribute to European society
People fleeing war, persecution or climate disaster
Women who are single, child-free or who want bodily autonomy
LGBTQ+ communities
Anyone who believes clean air, clean water and human dignity should sit alongside economic growth
Anyone whose idea of “European culture” doesn’t match theirs (I never did quite get to the bottom of what their definition of “culture” was)
Anyone who believes the public deserves accurate information to make informed decisions
This matters enormously for charities and trade unions – not just because you’re on their hit list, even if you don’t work explicitly on democracy, elections or political reform. But because, according to the speakers at this conference:
If you defend workers’ rights, you are a problem.
If you support marginalised communities, you are a problem.
If you challenge misinformation, advocate for equality, campaign for environmental protection, or stand up for people on the move, you are a problem.
Sitting in that room, surrounded by people who despised everything I stand for, was deeply unsettling. It also was a stark reminder of how deliberate and systematic the attacks on migrants, Muslims and other minority communities are – and how relentless they must feel for those who are targeted every day, far beyond the relative safety of a conference hall.
This is why tackling the far-right cannot be left to a handful of democracy organisations, specialist campaigners or charities and unions already doing great work.
The far-right is not just trying to win elections to get more power. It is trying to shrink civil society. It wants to delegitimise charities, weaken trade unions, silence journalists and turn neighbour against neighbour. It wants to make solidarity look suspicious and collective action look dangerous.
The far-right's route to building their power is fear – as I outline in my next blog. Fear is a powerful emotion which plays into human nature. Of course, as intelligent beings, we have choices to make about whether we believe the rhetoric but, more than that, we have choices about whether we’re prepared to show up and advocate for better than we have now.
For charities and trade unions, the threat of the far-right is whether we can continue to organise freely, speak truthfully and serve communities without fear. It is about whether people trust us, whether our funding survives, whether our staff and members are safe.
And if we don’t show up – together, visibly and confidently – others will decide the future of our sector for us.
