ELECTORAL POLITICS| GOVERNMENT POLICY
See also anti-fascism and far Right for more information on the situation in France following the death of Quentin Deranque.
17 February: In what is seen as France’s Charlie Kirk moment, the lower house of the French parliament holds a minute’s silence for Quentin Deranque, a 23-year-old far-right activist who died in Lyon, allegedly after being attacked by anti-fascists on the fringes of a protest against a talk by Rima Hassan, a Franco-Palestinian MEP from La France Insoumise (LFI) at Lyon’s Sciences Po campus. Marine Le Pen calls on the French state to designate ‘antifa’ as a terrorist organisation and condemns ‘barbarians responsible for this lynching’. For RN MP Laurent Jacobelli, ‘the far Left is the new fascism’. (Euronews,17 February 2026; Jacobin, 19 February 2026; Counterfire, 23 February 2026)
18 February: Defend Our Juries says ministers are applying political pressure on prosecutors to continue with charges of support for terrorism for protesters holding up paper signs, despite the High Court ruling that the Palestine Action ban is unlawful. (Morning Star, 18 February 2026)
18 February: As Nigel Farage unveils Reform UK’s proposed front bench, Suella Braverman, put in charge of education, skills and equalities, announces that her first act would be to abolish her equality brief and repeal the Equality Act. (Guardian, 18 February 2026)
20 February: After Reform withdraws support for its candidate Mike Manning over social media posts which contained ‘sickening insults’ aimed at Jewish and Muslim communities, the Greens win a council by-election to Teesside’s Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council. (BBC News, 20 February 2026)
21 February: After 1,028 local councillors signa pledge to ‘uphold the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people’ and ensure their council is not ‘complicit’ in ‘Israel’s violations of international law’, including by divesting pension funds from arms companies, the Israeli embassy describes the pledge as a ‘disgraceful effort at intimidation’. (Sky News, 21 February 2026)
22 February: The French foreign minister says that the government rejects any attempts to use the death of far-right activist Quentin Deranque for political purposes and that US ambassador Charles Kushner must explain sharing comments from official US social media accounts about ‘terrorism’ and ‘violent radical leftism’. Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni is also criticised. (Guardian, 22 February 2026)
23 February: At a press conference in Dover, Reform home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf outlines the party’s immigration policies, including creating an ICE-style agency (UK Deportation Command), increasing stop and search, ending leave to remain, deporting up to 288,000 people a year on five flights a day, and criminalising the encouragement of illegal entry (dubbed the ‘Polanski law’). A ban on the conversion of churches into mosques and a redrawing of Prevent to focus on Islamist extremism is also planned. (Guardian, 22 February 2026; Guardian, 23 February 2026)
23 February: Byline Times reports that Reform UK’s candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election holds a visiting professorship at the University of Buckingham’s Centre for Heterodox Social Science, whose network includes Aporia Magazine, the front publication for reconstituted Nazi eugenics foundation, the Pioneer Fund. (Byline Times, 23 February 2026)
🔴Revealed: Reform UK Matt Goodwin’s Academic Ties to Rebranded Nazi Eugenics Front
Reform’s Gorton candidate, who has said genetics will expose the “inherent differences between groups” is linked to organisations tied to discredited racist pseudosciencehttps://t.co/mYHOPMxwjv
— Byline Times (@BylineTimes) February 23, 2026
25 February: The European Legal Support Centre and Forensic Architecture release their ‘index of repression’ database documenting 964 cases of ‘anti-Palestinian repression’, which they say denotes ‘a systematic attempt to repress the UK’s solidarity movement’. (Al Jazeera, 25 February 2026)
26 February: An investigation by Byline Times finds that Chris Mitchell, the former East of England organiser for the far-right Patriotic Alternative, has been volunteering for the Restore Britain movement, whose leader Rupert Lowe recently announced it was registering as a political party. (Byline Times, 26 February 2026)
27 February: After Reform UK finish second with 10,578 votes in Manchester’s Gorton and Denton by-election, candidate Matt Goodwin blames a ‘coalition of Islamists and woke progressives’. ‘By writing to constituents in Urdu’, his opponents were ‘playing sectarian politics’, he says. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch blames Labour, Greens and Reform for stirring up a ‘grievance politics based on religion or race’. (Guardian, 27 February 2026, Guardian 27 February 2026)
“I don’t think it’s extreme or radical to think that working hard should get you a nice life.”https://t.co/6YrouvoKzd
— Good Law Project (@GoodLawProject) February 27, 2026
27 February: In her acceptance speech, victorious Green candidate Hannah Spencer criticises ‘politicians and divisive figures who constantly scapegoat and blame our communities for all the problems in society’, adding that ‘my Muslim neighbours are just like me, human’. (Guardian, 27 February 2026)
27 February: Amid contested claims made by Democracy Volunteers about family voting in the Gorton and Denton by-election, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage says his party was the victim of cheating, and files complaints with Greater Manchester Police and the Electoral Commission. The Conservatives also file a complaint with the watchdog. Questions need to be asked ‘about the integrity of the democratic process in predominantly Muslim areas’, Farage said. (Guardian, 27 February 2026)
27 February: At an election rally in Lyon, France, La France Insoumise leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon says that the far-right group Némésis laid a ‘trap’ ahead of the street fighting that resulted in the death of far-right activist Quentin Deranque, disputes the categorisation of Jeune Garde as a criminal organisation and condemns the assault on Deranque as committed by ‘young people who lost their self-control and lowered themselves to beating a man on the ground to the point that he died’. (Le Monde, 27 February 2026)
27 February: After a request by Patriots for Europe and the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) to observe a minute of silence in memory of Quentin Deranque is turned down by the European Parliament, the two groups vow to renew their request. The ECR seeks a plenary debate on political violence linked to far-left extremism. French MEP Céline Imart calls for the creation of a European blacklist of ultra-violent extremist organisations . (EU Observer, 27 February 2026)
28 February: Labour’s loss of the Gorton and Denton seat was partly due to a big shift in Muslim voters’ allegiance to the Greens, it is revealed. (Guardian, 28 February 2026)
1 March: As Farage claims postal voting has turned the UK into a ‘laughing stock’, Reform UK unveils plans for electoral reform, including a proposal to significantly restrict postal voting and remove the right of Commonwealth citizens to vote. Farage says that Reform’s Gorton and Denton by-election candidate ‘came first’ among British-born voters. (Metro, 1 March 2026; Guardian 2 March 2026)
1 March: Kindertransport refugee Lord Alf Dubs criticises home secretary Shabana Mahmood for saying she would press on with hardline immigration and asylum policies despite backbench and union objections, following Labour’s defeat to the Greens at the Gorton and Denton by-election. (Guardian, 1 March 2026)
ANTI-FASCISM AND THE FAR RIGHT
See also electoral politics and government policy for more information on the situation in France following the death of Quentin Deranque.
16 February: Trades unions say that around 20 fascists targeted a film screening organised by Young Struggle and the Turkish Migrant Workers Cultural Association in Paris, France, beating several audience members and stabbing a member of the General Confederation of Labour. (Peoples Despatch, 18 February 2026)
18 February: In France, LFI says that a smear campaign linking them to the death of Quentin Deranque has led to attacks on its national and local headquarters and the offices of several candidates running in the upcoming municipal elections. The Solidaires trade union and La Plume Noire bookshop are also attacked. (Peoples Despatch, 18 February 2026; International Viewpoint, 17 February 2026)
19 February: The French prosecutor seeks murder charges for 11 suspects accused of killing far-right activist Quentin Deranque. Amongst those detained is an assistant of an LFI MP. (Guardian, 19 February 2026; Jacobin, 19 February 2026; Euronews, 17 February 2026)
19 February: French anti-fascist researchers from Contre Attaque publish an account of the violent actions of the far Right that preceded the death of Quentin Deranque, while L’Humanite publishes internal documents that it says reveal the strategies developed by the far Right in Lyon to lure antifascists into ambushes. (Contre Attaque, 19 February 2026)
21 February: Around 3,200 people, carrying placards stating that the ‘extreme left kills’ and chanting ‘Wake up, White people’, march in Lyon, France, in tribute to far-right activist Quentin Deranque. Police investigate Nazi salutes, racist slurs and homophobic insults made at the rally. The president announces that a meeting to discuss ‘violent action groups’ will take place. (France 24, 21 February 2026; Le Monde, 22 February 2026)
In Lyon, the far right pays tribute to activist and tries to avoid controversy
— Le Monde in English (@english.lemonde.fr) 22 February 2026 at 09:39
21 February: Anti-fascists heavily outnumber hundreds of Britain First supporters who rally in central Manchester. Following clashes, police make 9 arrests and issue a dispersal order. The police investigate after a video that appears to show a Muslim man being attacked during the far-right march circulates on social media. Britain First leader Paul Golding accuses the police of ‘sabotage’. (BBC News, 21 February 2026; Manchester Evening News, 22 February 2026; Searchlight, 21 February 2026)
21 February: The Community Interfaith Alliance opposes a few dozen UKIP supporters who hold a Christian First demonstration in Birmingham. (Birmingham Live, 21 February 2026; Searchlight, 22 February 2026)
25 February: Joe Rittenhouse, a senior advisor at the US State Department, meets with Tommy Robinson, describing him on X as a ‘free speech warrior’. (Guardian, 25 February 2026)
25 February: Hungarian prosecutors initiate criminal proceedings against the ‘Bűnvadászok‘ (Crime Hunters), a far-right vigilante group linked to the Mi Hazánk party, whose leader has openly admitted the group predominantly targets Roma people, filming itself breaking into homes and intimidating Romani families under the guise of addressing unauthorised squatting. After decades of impunity for similar far-rght anti-Roma paramilitary activity in Hungary, human rights lawyer Vivien Brassói warns that accountability remains unlikely. (European Roma Rights Centre, 25 February 2026)
26 February: According to Searchlight, Restore Britain has admitted Jared Taylor, a white supremacist who founded American Renaissance and is banned from entering the UK, into the party. Rupert Lowe claims that the party has now surpassed 90,000 members. (Searchlight, 26 February 2026)
27 February: Fascists, allegedly supported by Iranian monarchists, post videos online of an attack on a Stop the War movement meeting in Manchester. Searchlight reports that local Shi’a mosques have been daubed with graffiti and red paint and worshippers abused on the way to prayers. (Searchlight, 28 February 2026; Stop the War, 27 February 2026)
28 February: Patriots of Worcester are among those protesting the housing of asylum seekers at the Fownes Hotel, clashing with counter-demonstrators from Worcestershire Against Racism. (Worcester News, 28 February 2026)
1 March: Anti-fascists oppose a far-right protest outside the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light Headquarters in Crewe. (Facebook, 1 March 2026)
2 March: Staff at Bellahouston Academy in Glasgow are subjected to threatening phone calls after Tommy Robinson circulates claims online about an attack on a pupil involving ‘Asian gangs’. Police Scotland make arrests for assault and robbery linked to the incident, which appears to have no known racial element. (Searchlight, 2 March 2026)
POLICING| PRISONS| CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
19 February: Czech police are criticised after an investigation into an incident on a train in November 2025, when Romani youth footballers allegedly suffered racist insults from Ostrava football fans, fails to identify a specific perpetrator. (Romea, 19 February 2026)
19 February: Ministry of Justice data shows that 2025 saw the highest number of deaths in prison on record. Last year there were 394 deaths in custody, a 15 percent increase from 2024. The Chief Inspector of Prisons warns of an ‘overwhelming ingress of illegal drugs’ ‘undermining every aspect of prison life’. (Justice Gap, 19 February 2026)
25 February: Justice secretary David Lammy introduces the Courts and Tribunals Bill to Parliament, which restricts rights of defendants to jury trial. (UK Human Rights Blog, 2 March 2026)
25 February: An Asian man sues police for his arrest through facial recognition for a burglary which took place 100 miles away from where he was at the time. (Guardian, 25 February 2026)
26 February: The Supreme Court rules that placards or speeches supporting Hamas after 7 October 2023 can found charges of support for terrorism under the Terrorism Act. (Supreme Court, 26 February 2026)
26 February: London mayor Sadiq Khan confirms that 100 Met police officers will perform roaming identity checks with facial recognition software installed on their phones, in a six-month pilot, as the EHRC chair warns of racial disparities for false positive identification with the technology. (Guardian, 26 February 2026)
ASYLUM | MIGRATION| BORDERS| CITIZENSHIP
Asylum and migrant rights
23 February: As EU states formally endorse a new list of ‘safe countries of origin’ and ‘safe third countries’ and rules allowing summary rejection of claims, the Council of Europe human rights commissioner says a retreat from individual assessment is a violation of basic asylum law and puts asylum protections at risk. (EU Observer, 23 February 2026)
25 February: Refugee charity Safe Passage is granted permission for a judicial review of the decision to remove family reunion rights from refugees, which it says breaches rights to family life and equality and disregards children’s welfare. (Guardian, 25 February 2026)
The suspension of family reunion has caused huge amounts of distress and worry for the women we support.
Forcibly keeping families apart is cruel.
We’re pleased to hear that @safepassageintl.bsky.social’s challenge will be heard in the high court.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026… 1/3
— Women for Refugee Women (@4refugeewomen.bsky.social) 25 February 2026 at 16:29
2 March: Under asylum rules issued yesterday, new refugees will be granted only 30 months’ protection instead of 5 years, followed by a review and removal if their country is deemed safe. The Law Society warns of ‘tension’ with the UK’s obligations under the Refugee Convention, while refugee charities condemn the move as deeply harmful. (BBC News, 1 March 2026; Guardian, 2 March 2026)
Borders and internal controls
17 February: A new UN report highlights the extent of ‘systematic’ human rights violations committed against migrants in EU partner Libya, including killings, torture, sexual violence and trafficking, as well as waves of hate speech and attacks on migrants and asylum seekers, and interceptions at sea. (ECRE weekly bulletin, 26 February 2026)
27 February: Legal Centre Lesvos’ new report, Bitter memories of Moria: arrests at the Lesvos asylum office, describes how since the law criminalising undocumented stay in Greece came into effect, people attending scheduled appointments to receive appeal decisions are arrested immediately on receiving a rejection and charged with illegal stay, which can mean years of imprisonment. (Legal Centre Lesvos, 27 February 2026)
27 February: France’s parliamentary commission confirms that Britain has transferred €540 million to Paris since 2023 to finance patrols, technology and migrant reception infrastructure, with an additional 700 gendarmes and police, night-vision drones, surveillance towers, a network of mobile command vehicles, the expansion of detention capacity and new screening facilities. (Visa HQ, 28 February 2026)
2 March: Digital engineering company Mastek wins a £49 million, five-year Home Office contract to support its Biometric Services Gateway and national DNA database, systems used across visa processing, passport applications, asylum claims and law enforcement. (Biometrics Update, 2 March 2026)
2 March: ‘Taxi boats’ for migrants coming to the UK are reportedly being launched from Belgian beaches to avoid French police, meaning longer and more dangerous journeys, and the government has provided £1.3 million to Belgian law enforcement in response. (Telegraph, 2 March 2026)
Reception and detention
20 February: In a test case, the Irish high court awards damages to two asylum seekers who became homeless after being denied housing when they made their asylum claim in 2023, in breach of the EU Reception Directive and the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. (RTÉ, 20 February 2026)
27 February: As the High Court rejects as premature a legal challenge by a residents’ group, Crowborough Shield, to the proposed use of Crowborough military training camp in east Sussex as asylum accommodation, the group says it will submit a further challenge. (Guardian, 27 February 2026)
Deportations
18 February: Greece is working with the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Denmark to set up deportation hubs outside Europe where refused asylum seekers who cannot be returned to their own countries will be sent, following new EU rules allowing this. (Morning Star, 18 February 2026)
19 February: Twenty-eight refugee and human rights NGOs, including the IRR, write to four airlines in the UK and France – Air France, Titan, AlbaStar and Corendon – urging them to halt their ‘shameful’ involvement in deportation flights to France under the ‘one in, one out’ scheme, noting that deportees include victims of torture, trafficking and modern slavery. (Guardian, 19 February 2026)
Citizenship
20 February: David Davis MP says dual-national British citizens are treated as foreigners and prevented from boarding flights under new rules requiring them to show their British passport or a £589 certificate of entitlement, as his constituent, living in the Netherlands, says she will be unable to see her dying mother since her expired British passport has been submitted for renewal. (Guardian, 20 February 2026)
HUMAN RIGHTS AND DISCRIMINATION
19 February: In an interview with BBC Breakfast, Keir Starmer condemns Reform’s plans to repeal the Equality Act as ‘shocking’ and ‘un-British’. (Guardian, 19 February 2026)
HOUSING| POVERTY| WELFARE
20 February: A Ramfel survey of parents of migrant families from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean on the ten-year route to settlement finds that 90 percent will cancel benefits they are legally entitled to, including child benefit and disability living allowance, to avoid doubling the wait for settled status to 20 years and its associated costs under the government’s ‘earned settlement’ proposals, and some have already done so. Over half the children involved are British. (Guardian, 20 February 2026)
26 February: Official statistics show a record number of people sleeping rough on the streets, in doorways and parks, with 4,793 rough sleepers recorded in a single night in autumn 2025. (Guardian, 26 February 2026)
HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
23 February: In the first publicised case of its kind, Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation withdraws from the Counter Terrorism Clinical Consultancy Service that enables police to access medical information of patients, including young children, deemed to be vulnerable to extremism. (Middle East Eye, 23 February 2026)
NHS mental health trust withdraws from counter-terror police programme – https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/nhs-mental-health-trust-withdraws-counter-terror-police-programme
— Middle East Eye (Unofficial) (@middleeasteye-rss.bsky.social) 23 February 2026 at 15:01
26 February: Lady Amos’ damning report on NHS maternity care finds shocking systemic and interpersonal racism directed at Black and Asian women, as well as cruel and insensitive comments after birth trauma and baby loss, inadequate staffing and resources, and cover-ups following serious mistakes. (Guardian, 26 February 2026)
EMPLOYMENT| EXPLOITATION| INDUSTRIAL ACTION
26 February: The Office for National Statistics finds that the number of young people (aged 16 to 24) in the UK not in work, education or training has risen by 11,000 on the previous quarter and now stands close to 1 million. (Guardian, 26 February 2026)
26 February: Official statistics show that the number of visas for overseas nurses fell by 93 percent in the three years to 2025, while those for care workers, ambulance staff, dental workers and nursing auxiliaries fell by 97 percent in two years, from over 100,000 to 3,000, leading to what the Work Rights Centre describe as an ‘impending car crash’ for hospitals and care homes. (Guardian, 26 February 2026)
CULTURE| MEDIA| SPORT
While we cannot cover all incidents of racist abuse on sportspersons or their responses, we provide a summary of the most important incidents. For more information follow Kick it Out.
18 February: Reform-run Lancashire county council withdraws all 63 of the county’s libraries from a UK-wide Libraries of Sanctuary programme, which offers support for new arrivals with ESOL classes, children’s activities and help accessing public services, on the grounds that it is not ‘an appropriate use of taxpayers’ money’, despite the scheme being completely free for participating councils. (Guardian, 18 February 2026)
19 February: England rugby captain Maro Itoje condemns the racist abuse suffered by Edwin Edogbo in his debut match for Ireland against Italy and the abuse alleged by Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr from a Benfica team member, saying the incidents demonstrate how far society still has to progress on the issue. (Times, 19 February 2026; Times, 18 February 2026)
21 February: Irish author Sally Rooney hails the high court ruling on the ban on Palestine Action as ‘a victory not only for the Palestine solidarity movement but also for civil liberties in Britain.’ Rooney, who gave witness statements in support of the case, previously cancelled a UK trip fearing arrest. (Guardian, 21 February 2026)
23 February: Dawn Butler MP criticises the BBC’s coverage of the BAFTA awards for cutting parts of Akinola Davies’ acceptance speech offering solidarity to migrants and those suffering genocide, including ‘free Palestine’, while failing to cut Tourette’s sufferer John Davidson’s involuntary use of the N-word. (The Conversation, 25 February 2026; Dawn Butler on X, 23 February 2026)
24 February: Black British film-maker Jonte Richardson resigns from Bafta’s emerging talent judging panel over the organisation’s handling of Tourette sufferer John Davidson’s involuntary racial slur during the ceremony, saying he ‘cannot and will not contribute time, energy and expertise to an organisation that has repeatedly failed to safeguard the dignity of its Black guests, members and the Black creative community’. (Guardian, 24 February 2026)
26 February: Nearly 700 film-makers, including Tilda Swinton and Todd Haynes, sign a petition backing Berlinale director Tricia Tuttle after reports she could be sacked following pro-Palestinian speeches at the festival’s closing gala, as Germany‘s federal commissioner for culture convenes a meeting over the festival’s future direction. (Guardian, 26 February 2026)
1 March: ITV faces criticism for censoring multiple political statements in its broadcast of the Brit Awards, including Geese drummer Max Bassin saying ‘free Palestine’ and ‘f*** ICE’ during his acceptance speech for Group of the Year. (Deadline, 1 March 2026)
2 March: Darren Grimes, Reform UK’s deputy council leader in Durham, admits using an AI-generated image of dark-skinned men getting into a coach in a post complaining that London councils are ‘quietly shifting’ ‘problem tenants, refugees and homeless families’ north. (Independent, 2 March 2026)
RACIAL VIOLENCE AND HARASSMENT
For details of court judgements on racially motivated and other hate crimes, see also POLICING | PRISONS | CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.
19 February: The government announces a record £73.4 million in funding for 2026 to 2027 for protective security schemes at Jewish, Muslim and other faith sites. (Gov.UK, 19 February 2026)
24 February: One man is arrested after two men, allegedly armed with offensive weapons including an axe, enter Manchester Central Mosque during prayers attended by 2,000 worshippers, triggering an emergency response. Police step up presence in the area and work with Counter-Terrorism Policing North West. An increase in hate mail and threats against local mosques is noted. (BBC News, 25 February 2026)
25 February: A swastika is painted on a gate alongside ‘Death to immigrants’ graffiti on the Ballygomartin Road, North Belfast. (Belfast Media, 25 February 2026)
26 February: After the Worcester Muslim Welfare Association’s building, which is next to a mosque, is subjected to an arson attack, the association issue a statement saying it believes the arson was motivated by Islamophobia. West Mercia police, who believe the attack is linked to a local murder which is not racially motivated, make no comment. (Worcester News, 26 February 2026)
26 February: The British Muslim Trust urges the Home Office to drop the requirement for mosques to prove they have faced a hate crime before they can apply for protective security. A ‘nationwide surge’ in attacks on mosques, with 27 incidents between August and October 2025, has left some mosques waiting for 18 months to get support, it says. (Guardian, 26 February 2026)
This calendar is researched by IRR staff and compiled by Sophie Chauhan, with the assistance of Graeme Atkinson, Margaret McAdam and Louis Ordish. Thanks also to ECRE, the Never Again Association, Research Against Global Authoritarianism and Stopwatch, whose regular updates on asylum, migration, far Right, racial violence, employment and policing issues are an invaluable source of information. Find these stories and all others since 2014 on our searchable database, the Register of Racism and Resistance.