The far-right thugs will do all they can to attempt to turn communities against one another, we must never let them win. We must remember that we have more in common than divides us.
Over the last few days, violent far-right thugs have caused devastation in several towns and cities across the UK. Mosques have been targeted, police officers and people of colour attacked, racist chants shouted and hotels housing asylum seekers stormed and set fire to.
It is no exaggeration to state that minority communities up and down the country are in a state of panic and fear, something our Prime Minister Keir Starmer acknowledged with his strong words yesterday, telling the public: “To those who feel targeted because of the colour of your skin or your faith, I know how frightening this must be. I want you to know that this violent mob do not represent our country. We will bring them to justice.”
Welcome words from the Prime Minister. Putting an end to the violence that has also seen rioters loot shops, attack a Citizens Advice office and resulted in a threefold increase in Islamophobic hate crime incidents, will be a defining test of Keir Starmer’s premiership.
According to monitoring group Tell MAMA which tracks anti-Muslim hatred, over the last week amid an increase in right-wing activity there has been a fivefold increase in threats to Muslims, such as of rape and death and a threefold increase in hate crime incidents. A total of 10 mosques attacked or threatened and these figures don’t include the latest incidents over the weekend.
There will be some who express shock and surprise at the events of recent days. Although we must never lose sight of the fact that our country is filled with decent, warm, well-meaning and kind hearted people, the majority of whom abhor such violence and extremism, we must also not forget that the far-right threat was always present, and a threat that some of us had been warning about for some years.
Having been born and raised in Luton, a town that bore the brunt of far-right marches in recent years, which saw both the English Defence League (EDL) and Britain First hold demonstrations that often descended into violence, the threat of the far-right never subsided. Many of us tried to warn for years about the threat, only to see right-wing commentators and others claim that there was ‘no such thing as Islamophobia’, or that Muslims were being too sensitive.
While some of our communities were having to face increasing far-right violence and hate crimes, others were being given column inches and air time to question whether Islamophobia existed. Now do you believe us?
That some commentators are still trying to portray far-right thugs involved in violence as having ‘legitimate concerns’, when mosques have been attacked, people physically assaulted because of their ethnicity, and while they chant racist phrases, is utterly appalling.
Make no mistake, those far-right thugs we see on our streets today, feel emboldened by the likes of Nigel Farage and elements of the right-wing press who have demonised Muslims, asylum seekers and minorities for years.
When over the years newspapers publish front pages falsely claiming that ‘white Christian children’ were being forcibly put into Muslim foster care or that 1 in 5 British Muslims support ISIS (both stories were found to be significantly misleading), to name just two of the many many examples, then communities like the one I come from find themselves subjected to growing animosity. Nor should we forget that Boris Johnson’s claim that Muslim women who wear the burka look like ‘letterboxes’ led to a 375% increase in Islamophobic hate crimes.
The latest riots took place after the horrific mass stabbing in Southport – the worst attack on children in the country in recent history. Three young girls were killed in an attack which took place during a Taylor Swift-themed dance class. Eight other children suffered stab wounds and at least two are still in a critical condition, alongside two adults who are also still in hospital.
Within hours of the horrific attack, the far-right were spreading misinformation about the identity of the attacker, claiming that he had arrived in the UK via a small boat with a number of far-right social media accounts claiming that the attacker was Muslim, a migrant, refugee or foreigner.
The attacker has been named as Cardiff born Axel Rudakubana, 17. He has now been charged with murdering Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, along with 10 counts of attempted murder.
Following the horrific attack, right-wing politicians like Farage began publicly questioning whether the truth was “being withheld from us”, adding to the narratives being pushed by the far-right.
Questions must also be asked about the role of social media, which relies on outrage to drive engagement, further pulling communities apart. On X, Elon Musk, who views himself as a ‘free speech absolutist’ has allowed untruths and fake news to spread openly, while welcoming back the likes of Tommy Robinson and Britain First on to the platform to spew their bile.
It’s about time social media giants were treated as publishers with responsibility for what is published rather than as just ‘social media platforms’. X has hosted a number of fake news stories which as we have seen over recent days has had devastating consequences.
Only through unity will we be able to defeat the warped ideology of the far right. We must never lose sight of the fact that our country is filled with decent, warm, well-meaning and kind hearted people.
The far-right thugs will do all they can to attempt to turn communities against one another, we must never let them win. We must remember that we have more in common than divides us.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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