In 1963 President J F Kennedy made what has become an iconic speech in Berlin.
"Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was "civis Romanus sum." Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is "Ich bin ein Berliner."
I woke up this morning to watch distressing images of protests in response to Trump issuing a ban on people from certain countries.
In less than 24 hours this news had travelled the world. The politics of the far right are being fuelled by hatred and fear. I often wondered what I would have done if I had been alive and organising during the rise of fascism in the 1930's.
That is no longer a hypothetical question the rise of the far right and the politics is with us.
As a union organiser, there is only one response and that is to tackle the far right head on. The far right always use fear to rally to their cause.
Trade unions need to respond with our politics of solidarity amongst workers and our communities.
Our Barnet Unison branch are organising an action of solidarity with "One Day without us" on Monday 20 February and we will be taking our banner to Stand up to Racism demo on 18 March in central London.
As a proud grandson of migrants I have only one thing to say:
" Ich bin ein migrant"
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