This is not who we are
The racists have been emboldened and sanctioned by our government’s own rhetoric – to now talk vaguely in terms of resistance is far too little, much too late.
At the weekend, the far-right descended on London. Our flawed but beautiful melting pot of a capital city, famed for its inclusivity, for its vibrant diversity, for its progressive thinking and acceptance of different ways of life. And yet it was here, on the streets of a city that is so often a safe haven for people from minoritised communities, that more than 150,000 marched in the name of racist thug and convicted criminal Tommy Robinson.
They came, draped in flags – a frothing ocean of red and white – and proclaimed they were here to make this country safer for women and girls. But not all women and girls. Groups of drunk, coked-up men radiated hostility, spitting at counter-protesters, intimidating Black and brown people on the Tube, injuring 26 police officers. As a woman of colour, I have rarely, if ever, felt less safe in my city.
Most of the interviews I have seen with protesters present a veneer of respectability. Legitimate concerns about illegal immigration, forgotten towns, dwindling opportunities. This isn’t about racism, they say. But this was an event organised by Tommy Robinson, the co-founder of the English Defence League. A man convicted of contempt of court for filming Muslim defendants and endangering a fair trial, who has been banned from multiple social media platforms for hate speech. Whatever concerns you may have about the state of this country, there is simply no excuse for standing hand-in-hand with far-right thugs.
We must not fall into the trap of trying to rationalise this ugly, violent event. We cannot tame what is happening here by speaking only of migration policy or economic hardship. The Unite The Kingdom march was not about free speech. It was about hate. Until we call it by its proper name – fascism, white nationalism, xenophobia – we will never begin to confront it effectively.
Someone who knows all about failing to confront this threat is Keir Starmer. This week, the Prime Minister declared Britain will “never surrender the flag” to far-right protesters. But this is exactly what has already happened. The St George’s flag is theirs. The sight of it – fluttering from a residential window, hanging from motorway bridges, sloppily painted on roundabouts, thundering down Whitehall tied round the necks of fighting-age white men – does what they intended: intimidates. And the Prime Minister raised his own white flag a long time ago.
With Starmer at the helm, the mainstream political class has seamlessly, unthinkingly adopted the far-right’s language of fear and othering. From the punitive Immigration White Paper, to Starmer’s “island of strangers” speech – the Labour leader’s first year in power has demonstrated a clear scramble to catch‑up to hard‑right populism. By directly pandering to Farage’s toxic rhetoric on immigration, Starmer has both elevated his views and legitimised them. What we saw at the weekend is the direct result of this. The racists in this country have been emboldened and sanctioned by our government’s own rhetoric – and to now talk vaguely in terms of resistance is far too little, much too late.
The turnout at the weekend was frightening. Last summer, while rumours swirled about far-right rallies popping up in different pockets of the capital, counter-protesters outnumbered them – to an embarrassing degree – at every turn. My east London neighbourhood came out in force, sending any racists scuttling back to their hometowns, tucking their flags between their legs. This time was different. Unite the Kingdom was the largest nationalist protest in decades, the counter-protesters were swamped.
We can no longer rely on those willing to put their safety on the line and stand up to racism. And we should never have had to. While anti-fascist activism will always be a crucial element in the battle for the soul of our country, we also need our leaders to stand up, to act, to legislate against the hatred that is starting to take hold of the national psyche.
In the immediate-term, Keir Starmer and the Labour government must offer a compelling, progressive alternative to Reform UK, rather than parroting the language of the right. That means building a humane migration system rooted in dignity and fairness. In the longer-term, it means investing in jobs, housing and public services with a view to dismantling the desperate conditions in which extremism thrives. Above all, it means choosing courage. Fascism feeds on silence, and on political leaders too scared to tell the truth.
Hate is not just spreading, it is erupting into violence. Last week, a Sikh woman was reportedly raped in broad daylight in the West Midlands. Her attackers allegedly told her she didn’t belong in this country. For anyone who marched under Tommy Robinson’s banner at the weekend and still believes this is just about ‘free speech’ – it’s time to wake up and connect the dots.
Right now, the far-right might have the numbers, the flags, the noise, but there is still time to turn the tide. It has never been more important to stand up, to push back, to demand better. Here at The Lead we are dedicated to exposing the far-right, to challenging hate and misinformation, and to calling racism exactly what it is. Join us by signing up, becoming a paid subscriber, or sharing our work with your friends and family. We need you now, more than ever. But we can’t do this alone, we need courage from those in power. We need elected leaders who will stand, clearly and unequivocally, for a Britain that is safe, inclusive, and for everyone. That work must start now.■
About the author: Natalie Morris is our Senior Editor here at The Lead. Elsewhere, she is a freelance writer, journalist and host covering social justice, inequality, health and community, writing in the Guardian, the Independent, Metro, Grazia, Stylist, Glamour, Cosmopolitan and more. She’s the author of Mixed/Other and co-author of Leigh-Anne Pinnock’s memoir Believe.
Our petition to Ban Elon Musk from the UK has reached upwards of 3,000 signatures – add you name to the petition now to ensure he is placed on the banned list by the Home Secretary, after his vile words and hatred stirring at the weekend’s Unite The Kingdom rally:
