Protesters? No, far-right rioters in UK cities are simply thugs

The vile scenes of far-right attacks across British cities over the past week is tempered only by the far larger counter-fascist backlash where communities have come together to face down the thuggery. But how has it come to this, a situation where mosques have been attacked, police stations set alight, and people in fear of their lives?
No doubt, the Labour victory at the July elections played a role. The far right wanted to test the resolve of the government. This is one reason why riots are dispersed across numerous cities, stretching police resources.
The proximate cause was a rumor spread by influential extremist accounts that the brutal stabbings of three young girls in Southport were perpetrated by a Muslim. This was deliberate misinformation (the attacker was a 17-year-old non-Muslim), but highly effective. The nature of these attacks in dozens of cities demonstrate that they were coordinated and planned, not spontaneous outrage. Thugs may be arrested, but those who orchestrated this, and those who were blowing dog whistles, must also be held accountable.
The violence against Muslims and mosques has been largely underplayed. A Muslim man was stabbed in Crosby, Liverpool. Mosques were a magnet for these extremists. Online, a deluge of posts sought to justify what were akin to pogroms against British Muslims. Such posts call for Islam to be destroyed and Muslims expelled.
Many believed that Britain had a moderate rational political environment, at least until Brexit. The complacent end of British politics may have semi-smugly watched far-right successes in France, Germany, Austria, and Italy, among other European states, as though there was no issue in Britain. This was always a mirage.
Britain nominally has not had a far-right party in power. The country’s “first past the post” voting system always denied an easy path to influence through the ballot box. Like the US, power is in the hands of one of two parties, and has been consistently for a century. This does not mean the far right have not been and will not be a threat. Neo-Nazi groups have a long history of brutal, mindless violence they sadly love to indulge. It tends to be motivated by passions and emotions, not thought.

Britain, like many other countries, needs immigration. Immigrants have added to the glorious diversity of the nation.

Chris Doyle

Back in the 1900s there was the British Brothers’ League followed by Sir Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts. In the 1970s and 1980s, the National Front was the prime driver, often hero-worshipping Adolf Hitler, and triggering counter movements and activities, such as Rock Against Racism. The British National Party at one point had over 50 local councilors and two seats in the European Parliament. A million people were calculated to have voted for the party in the early part of this century. The English Defense League, now disbanded, was just one of the latest emanations of this movement, and had a key role in sparking the Southport riots. The targets of all these groups were what they deemed to be non-whites: Jews, Blacks, Asians, and Muslims. Most BNP and EDL supporters want a complete end to all immigration, but the EDL as a movement was founded on a vicious anti-Islam platform.
Being anti-Muslim has a dangerous public acceptability as opposed to neo-Nazi racism. Islamophobia has gripped the Conservative Party for years. The EDL taps into this.
The EDL’s thuggish violence has men-in-suits as partners who try to lend a veneer of legitimacy. Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform Party, denies any links, but does not condemn fully. His statements opposing the violence come with a chorus of “buts” and “howevers”. The media, which loves to sensationalize, platforms the likes of Farage, thereby normalizing the far right. Even the BBC risked legitimizing the men of violence, referring to them as “protesters” — what were they protesting for? — as opposed to violent thugs.
The mistake would be to play to the far-right tune. Street violence must be addressed, but the underlying racism and Islamophobia must be tackled with the same ruthlessness reserved for antisemitism. Politicians have belittled Islamophobia all too often. They should not. Muslims should not be scared of going to mosques.
However, politicians also have to divorce themselves from dangerous anti-immigration rhetoric. Britain, like many other countries, needs immigration. Immigrants have added to the glorious diversity of the nation, and it is time more stood up to state this unapologetically.
Yet, most alarmingly, disinformation on social media has once again undermined the security of a nation, just as it did on Jan. 6, 2021, in the US. Designed to amplify the most outrageous comments, these platforms are dangerous, showing that the online and real worlds cannot be separated. Extremists should be banned on such accounts.
Will this round of riots continue? The security services will crack down with government support. But the far right will not evaporate. They see this as the latest battle in a long war.

• Chris Doyle is director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding in London. X: @Doylech