The idea of One Nation will be threatened tomorrow, how can Labour react?

Tomorrow, up and down the country the English Defence League and various other far-right groups will attempt to divide our communities through fear.

I have signed the letter put together by Hope Not Hate which succinctly and excellently gives a voice to how I feel: a message that rejects extremism, whether it comes in the guise of radical Islam, or English patriotism.

Just as the two terrorists who murdered soldier Lee Rigby do not represent Islam and Muslims; nor do attempts by the EDL to incite hatred represent the English people.

The EDL, which up until a few weeks ago was waning on the brink, has now had an almost complete resurgence, built solely upon exploiting peoples fear over a tragic and sad situation in Woolwich.

After this weekend, after people have signed this letter, what is next? How do we confront, not just the EDL, but extremism that is present on the fringes of our society as a whole?

There is already the strongest and most inspiring response from a Labour politician that we can lean on, that of Jens Stoltenberg- Norwegian Prime Minister at the time of the Utoya and Oslo massacre in Norway in 2011, where 77 people, mainly children, lost their lives.

Utoya is not Woolwich. The EDL are not Anders Breivik. But our response can be the same:

“When our democratic, open society is under attack, we must respond with more democracy, more openness, and more humanity… We will fight extremism with more democracy.”

When the letters are signed, the newspaper articles read, the placards put away – the real campaign will begin. We need to not define ourselves as opposed to extremism and groups such as the EDL; but as champions for a more positive, more open, more democratic, more human society.

The real test for a One Nation Labour will be in how we build this. How we hold our ground, and do not pander to more cynical attempts to shift rightwards in policy and in rhetoric from other less overt, more long-term threats.

Hazel Nolan is Chair of London Young Labour and GMB rep on Young Labour National Committee