ELECTORAL POLITICS| GOVERNMENT POLICY
26 June: The government rejects a claim by senior Trump official Sarah B. Rogers at an international Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference in London that British police are making thousands of ‘freedom of speech’ arrests, citing the case of Henry Nowak and using a meme associated with the far Right, ‘Da Yookay’, in her presentation. (Guardian, 26 June 2026)
28 June: As Reform UK takes on the role of official opposition in the Senedd, where it has a third of the seats, Reform MS for Caerdydd Penarth Joe Martins is criticised for differentiating between Ukrainian and Sudanese refugees, claiming that only the latter commit violent crimes, and asking the first minister what he would do to avoid ‘the next inevitable attack’. (Guardian, 28 June 2026)
29 June: In Northern Ireland, DUP education minister Paul Givan is criticised for attending an anti-immigration protest in Lisburn on the same night that several immigrant families, including young children, were driven from their homes in a series of race hate attacks. He says he attended in his personal capacity. (Irish News, 29 June 2026)
29 June: Two independent terrorism legislation reviewers call for amendments to the National Security (State Threats) bill to provide safeguards for NGOs and journalists and prevent those working in danger-zones from being prosecuted for providing material support to newly-defined state-backed terrorist groups. (Guardian, 29 June 2026)
2 July: Statewatch publishes data revealing that while the EU has issued 20 sanctions against Russian companies in response to the invasion of Ukraine, it has taken no meaningful action against Israeli companies with whom public institutions in the EU have entered contracts worth €2.7 billion since 2022. (Statewatch, 2 July 2026)
3 July: A £75,000 scheme to hang Union flags at 180 sites across Reform-led Nottinghamshire, which local MP Lee Anderson said would not cost residents ‘a single penny’ as local businesses would sponsor it, has not attracted a single sponsor, it is revealed. (Guardian, 3 July 2026)
Reform UK-led council fails to attract any sponsors for union flag scheme
— The Guardian (@theguardian.com) 3 July 2026 at 18:43
4 July: Pope Leo urges European governments to do more to r2eceive, protect, support and integrate migrants in a mass on the ‘gateway to Europe’ in Lampedusa, Italy. (BBC News, 4 July 2026)
5 July: Responding to Labour MP Bell Ribeiro Addy’s support for reparations to Jamaica, Reform UK’s Suella Braverman, on X, calls for former British colonies to pay reparations to Britain for the ‘investment, effort and contribution’ the British Empire made in building them. (Middle East Eye, 5 July 2026)
6 July: The Labour group in the London Assembly call for an investigation into Conservative leader Susan Hall after she shares an AI-generated fake video clip (since deleted) depicting a migrant on a dinghy brandishing a machete, also claiming that the migrant was shouting ‘this is the end of England’. (Evening Standard, 6 July 2026)
7 July: Reform UK leader Nigel Farage resigns as MP for Clacton but declares his intent to stand in a by-election after revealing that a second parliamentary investigation is underway concerning his failure to declare gifts, including a £5m donation from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harbone and financial support from convicted fraudster George Cottrell. (Guardian, 7 July 2026)
ANTI-FASCISM AND THE FAR RIGHT
25 June: Public figures including comedian Frankie Boyle and Scotland’s former first minister Humza Yousaf back a ‘reclaim our streets’ anti-racism rally in Edinburgh, called after a man was charged with five counts of attempted murder over a series of alleged terror-linked stabbings targeting Muslims in the city. (The National, 25 June 2026)
25 June: The Patriots for Europe Foundation, the think-tank of the far-right European Parliament group chaired by Jordan Bardella, hires Swiss neo-Nazi activist Manuel Corchia for communications work at events in France and Austria, a Mediapart investigation reveals. (Humanite, 25 June 2026)
30 June: Germany’s domestic intelligence agency reports that the number of far-right extremists it has registered rose to 58,700 last year, an increase of more than 8,000, which it largely attributes to the growth of the AfD party. (BBC News, 30 June 2026)
3 July: Hundreds protest outside the Tivoli Theatre in Wimborne, Dorset, opposing the far-right’s Katie Hopkins, scheduled to appear there. (Bournemouth Echo, 3 July 2026)
4 July: Around 50 far-right protesters, chanting ‘white man fight back’ and ‘deport them all’, hold an unannounced flash march from the County Road area to Liverpool city centre. (Liverpool Echo, 4 July 2026)
4 July: Riot police clash with thousands of protesters in Erfurt, Germany, trying to block delegates from reaching the AfD’s party conference, where Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla are expected to be re-elected as co-leaders. Historians and politicians say the timing of the gathering, on the centenary of a Nazi rally in nearby Weimar, is a deliberate provocation, which the AfD denies. (Guardian, 4 July 2026)
6 July: Polish nationalists from the National Movement, part of the far-right Confederation group, protest outside an Islamic centre in Kraków, with local leader Piotr Bartosz accusing it of secretly operating a mosque. The centre’s Al-Fajr Foundation condemns the ‘unlawful threats and attempts at provocation’ against it, while Kraków’s equality official criticises those ‘artificially fuelling fears’. (NotesFromPoland, 6 July 2026)
Nationalists have protested against an Islamic centre in Kraków, saying they “do not consent to the spread of Islam in Poland”.
However, the city’s equality officer has criticised such groups for “artificially fueling fears and instigating conflicts” https://t.co/qNKJJxMQa5
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) July 6, 2026
POLICING| PRISONS| CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
26 June: Newly released police body-worn camera footage shows the murderer of Southampton student Henry Nowak lying to police officers about being racially attacked, causing officers to arrest and handcuff the student before they saw his fatal injuries. (Guardian, 26 June 2026)
29 June: In a new report, Netpol documents the police response to a protest outside the ‘Great Israeli Real Estate Event’ at a synagogue in north London, alleging that police stood by when the protest was violently attacked, also making no intervention when anti-Arab and racist invective was hurled at demonstrators. (Netpol, 29 June 2026)
1 July: Two Hampshire police officers called to the scene of Henry Nowak’s murder are served with gross misconduct notices for failing to give him immediate first aid and handcuffing him as he lay dying. An investigation will also focus on whether the race or religion of the murderer or victim affected the decisions made, and whether officers ‘were influenced by assumptions or prejudice relating to community tensions at the time’. (ITV, 1 July 2026)
3 July: The inquest at Belfast Coroner’s Court into the death of schoolchild Noah Donohoe is adjourned after the jury, who had been asked to consider whether any police errors contributed to the death, fail to reach a unanimous verdict after 25 hours of deliberation. (RTE, 3 July 2026)
5 July: Police arrest 14 people, including an 84-year-old retired priest, for support for terrorism at a protest marking the first anniversary of the Palestine Action ban, bringing the numbers arrested for holding placards to over 3,300. (Morning Star, 5 July 2026)
7 July: In its annual report, the HM inspector of prisons for England and Wales links prison education cuts of 50 percent to the spike in drug use, self-harm and violence. (Guardian, 7 July 2026)
ASYLUM| MIGRATION| BORDERS| CITIZENSHIP
Asylum and migrant rights
23 June: In a case with significant implications for UK policy, the ECtHR finds Greece in breach of Articles 8 and 13 of the Human Rights Convention for its failure to provide effective family reunion procedures for recognised refugees. It emphasises that family unity is ‘an essential right’ of refugees. (ELENA Weekly Legal Update, 6 July 2026)
30 June: The Immigration and Asylum Bill is published, providing for a new immigration appeals body with non-legally trained judges; more restrictions on family life rights for migrants and refugees; contributions from asylum seekers to the cost of their support; and community sponsorship for refugee arrivals. (EIN, 30 June 2026)
30 June: The amnesty for undocumented migrants launched in April closes in Spain with nearly 1.2 million applicants seeking regularisation, two-thirds from Latin America and almost a quarter from Africa. Officials have three months to determine the applications. (Al Jazeera, 2 July 2026; Le Monde, 1 July 2026)
2 July: A Public Law Project study of over 270 immigration tribunal cases finds poor interpretation and cultural misunderstandings impair decision-making and undermine justice for appellants. (EIN, 2 July 2026)
6 July: The European Ombudsman reveals failure to uphold fundamental rights and mishandling of asylum claims from vulnerable people in Greece by the EU Asylum Agency, including failure to flag or act on cases of human trafficking and pushbacks, and no mechanism allowing asylum seekers to correct records of interviews. (EU Observer, 6 July 2026)
EU watchdog faults asylum agency over botched interviews with vulnerable migrants in Greece
— euobserver — EU news that matters (@euobserver.com) 7 July 2026 at 01:43
Borders and internal controls
24 June: French media report that the controversial ‘one in, one out’ France-UK deal, described by migrant advocacy groups as unjust, inhumane and ‘a cynical bargaining over human lives’, will not be extended when it expires in October. (Guardian, 24 June 2026)
30 June: Friday Rout, a 21-year-old from South Sudan, is sentenced to 7 months in a young offenders’ institution following his guilty plea to driving a ‘small boat’ with 55 people to the UK, as his ‘not guilty’ plea to endangering others is accepted. Two Sudanese nationals face charges of ‘endangering others during a sea crossing’ with trials scheduled for November. (BBC, 30 June 2026)
1 July: Twelve young Afghan men tell the BBC of being in a group of 50 who were beaten and stripped by Turkish border guards in January while trying to reach Europe, leaving 11 of them losing limbs to frostbite, while 20 of the group froze to death. Survivors were deported to Afghanistan. Turkey is an EU external partner on migration. (BBC News, 1 July 2026)
Reception and detention
30 June: MEPs and officials from the Greens and the European Free Alliance are denied access to detainees in their cells and living spaces at Gjäder migration centre in Albania, used by Italy as an offshore detention facility, although they saw some detainees and noted signs of self-harm. (EU Observer, 30 June 2026)
1 July: Follows a backlash over a plan to move 83 asylum seekers into 21 new homes in Shropshire, the Home Office advises that new-build properties should never be used to house asylum seekers, and instructs asylum housing contractors not to source housing seen as ‘luxury’ or close to schools or nurseries. Care4Calais condemns ‘treating people seeking sanctuary like second-class humans’. (Independent, 1 July 2026; BBC, 2 July 2026)
Deportations
2 July: Following the Greek parliament’s approval of a new asylum law allowing free legal advice to asylum seekers, ministers decide to offer a cash bonus to lawyers whose clients voluntarily return home. (EU Observer, 2 July 2026)
3 July: Officials in the Canary Islands, Spain, complain that EU officials have not consulted or given guidance on the implementation of the EU’s new Asylum and Migration Pact, which authorises accelerated returns to ‘safe’ countries. A court last week authorised the detention of 82 newly arrived migrants from Senegal pending their deportation, prompting fears that the measure will lead to the arrival of more unaccompanied minors, who are not subject to the accelerated procedures. (InfoMigrants, 3 July 2026)
6 July: Mark Nelson, a 46-year-old Jamaican in the UK since 2000 and with five British children and a British partner, is detained near Heathrow airport facing deportation, as rights to family life for migrants are restricted in the new immigration bill. (Guardian, 6 July 2026)
Citizenship
23 June: A House of Lords committee describes the ‘conducive to the public good’ test for deprivation of citizenship as ‘too vague’ and vulnerable to ‘misuse and abuse’, and recommends return to a test requiring conduct ‘seriously prejudicial to the vital interests’ of the country. (Middle East Eye, 23 June 2026)
EDUCATION
24 June: Cottenham Village College, Cambridgeshire, accuses Reform UK Huntingdonshire District Council group leader Ryan Coogan of ‘abusive messages’ after he likened the conduct of its SEND coordinator to national rape gang scandals. (BBC News, 24 June 2026)
26 June: A Byline Times investigation reveals that, in a video published this week, Nigel Farage systematically misrepresents official data on the educational performance of white working-class boys by blaming it on the Equality Act. Official data links underachievement to poverty and a decade of austerity cuts, contradicting Farage’s racial account of school failure. (Byline Times, 26 June 2026)
29 June: The Independent Inquiry into White Working-Class Educational Outcomes (commissioned by Star Academies Trust but backed by the DfE) concludes that once-in-a-generation changes are needed to tackle the factors causing white working-class children to be the lowest-performing large demographic in England’s school system. (Guardian, 29 June 2026)
4 July: Analysis by the Fischer Family Trust finds that a third of disadvantaged white pupils in England leave primary school without being able to read properly and that white disadvantaged pupils have lower reading fluency throughout primary than disadvantaged pupils from other ethnic backgrounds. (Guardian, 4 July 2026)
5 July: Following pressure including from celebrity Chris Packham, OFSTED drops a ‘clumsy’ and ‘offensive’ training document for inspectors that links children with autism to extremism. (Guardian, 5 July 2026)
HOUSING| POVERTY| WELFARE
4 July: Cornwall council comes under criticism after it emerges that half of the county’s planning infringement notices target caravans in agricultural fields, fuelling eviction fears for vulnerable people, including low-paid care workers. (Guardian, 4 July 2026)
HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
24 June: The Ockendon study of maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, sparked by concern over maternal and neo-natal deaths, finds a ‘bullying and toxic’ culture featuring ‘neglect, incompetence, racism, discrimination, contempt and harassment’, leading to over 500 mothers and babies suffering harm or dying. (Guardian, 24 June 2026)
30 June: The Amos report on England’s NHS maternity services highlights a host of ‘shocking’ failures, racism ‘embedded throughout the maternity and neonatal system’ and a toxic culture. (Guardian, 30 June 2026)
2 July: The Guardian’s analysis of data of more than 2.7 million births in the UK shows that women from Black and Asian backgrounds are less likely than their white counterparts to receive an epidural whilst giving birth, prompting concern about an ‘ethnicity pain gap’. (Guardian, 2 July)
Women from minority backgrounds in UK less likely to receive epidurals, research finds
— The Guardian (@theguardian.com) 2 July 2026 at 17:13
6 July: The government announces that all NHS acute, ambulance and mental health trusts in England will be ranked according to how well they tackle racism, violence and sexual misconduct, with the results published in league tables. (Guardian, 6 July 2026)
CULTURE| MEDIA| SPORT
24 June: A report by the Centre for Media Monitoring comparing media coverage of attacks on Muslim people in Edinburgh with the Golders Green antisemitic attacks finds that the media underplays terror attacks that target Muslims. (Canary, 24 June 2026)
24 June: Misan Harriman confirms that he will not seek another term as chair of the Southbank Centre but says that it has nothing to do with the ‘madness’ surrounding accusations made in the right-wing press that he shared a conspiracy theory about the Golders Green attack. (Guardian, 24 June 2026)
25 June: The Sun agrees to pay ‘substantial’ libel damages to Coronation Street actor Qasim Akhtar after falsely linking him to Islamic extremism, including claims he backed a radical cleric and moved to Pakistan for firearms training. The newspaper apologises ‘unreservedly for the serious harm and distress caused’, while Akhtar’s lawyer says the false allegations ‘unfairly target[ed] him because of his religion and identity’. (Press Gazette, 25 June 2026)
1 July: The British Museum removed the terms ‘Palestine’, ‘Palestinian’ and ‘Israelite occupation’ from its displays in direct response to months of lobbying by pro-Israel activists and organisations in 2024, an investigation by Middle East Eye finds, despite the museum’s claim that the changes were made after ‘audience testing’, which it admits never took place. (Middle East Eye, 1 July 2026)
2 July: Culture secretary Lisa Nandy announces her department will stop using X, saying the Elon Musk-owned platform ‘now favours abuse and misinformation over meaningful debate’. It is the second government department to quit the site, after attorney-general Richard Hermer told his office to stop posting on X over its role in stoking disorder in Southampton and Belfast. (Guardian, 2 July 2026)
3 July: The Muslim Council of Britain writes to Ofcom questioning its failure to take regulatory action against X for hosting the film ‘Citizen Vigilante’, in which a vigilante hunts down immigrants and officials he blames for the killing of a white woman. (MCB, 3 July 2026; GPAHE, 3 July 2026)
4 July: Elon Musk posts about race and immigration in the UK twice as often as about SpaceX in the run-up to the company’s IPO, a Guardian analysis finds, with almost three-quarters of the posts related to UK politics. Prime minister Keir Starmer accuses Musk of ‘interfering’ in UK politics and ‘trying to whip up division’, while a report by the Centre for Countering Digital Hate finds replies to his posts after the Belfast knife attack contained 240 calls for violence. (Guardian, 4 July 2026)
RACIAL VIOLENCE AND HARASSMENT
29 June: In Ireland, People before Profit condemn an assault on an elderly Muslim man out running for charity in Poppintree Park, Balymun, Dublin. (X, [Cllr Conor Ready], 29 June 2026)
1 July: In Ireland, an Iranian national is charged with arson after allegedly setting fire to the entrance of the Al-Madinah Prayer Hall in Dublin, shortly after worshippers finished prayers. On arrest, Khosroabadi, who was refused bail on the grounds he might target the mosque again, reportedly told police that he hated Islam and its followers were ‘dirty people’, and that he did not care if children died. (Irish Times, 1 July 2026)
2 July: In North Belfast, the PSNI investigates a banner (now removed) in Shore Cresent as a hate crime. Two other AI-generated murals erected on houses near Cloughfern Roundabout, one of which reads ‘a new evil has arisen’ in relation to the Islamic faith, are also treated as hate crimes. (Belfast Telegraph, 2 July 2026)
2 July: It emerges that during the recent racist riots in Belfast, international healthcare staff were forced to sleep on trolleys at Belfast’s Mater Hospital, as it was not safe for them to travel home. (Irish News, 2 July 2026)
2 July: An Islamophobic slur is spray-painted on a bridge along a popular walking and cycling route on the outskirts of Bury town centre. (Manchester Evening News, 2 July 2026)
3 July: Police appeal for information about a racially motivated assault on 29 June in the New Lodge area of North Belfast. A group of teenagers approached two friends, with one punching one man in the face, while other teenagers hurled racial slurs at both men. (RTE, 3 July 2026)
4 July: The National Trust issues a statement condemning racism after police investigate an incident at Hardwick Hall in Cheshire, where a woman abused a Muslim family, telling them to go back to their own country. (Instagram [The Canary], 4 July 2026.
4 July: An appeal for CCTV evidence is issued after a racially motivated incident in Southampton, which involved men in a car throwing urine from a bottle at a woman and her friend, both care workers supporting the elderly, as they were out walking. (X, [Taj Ali]. 4 July 2026)
5 July: In Walsall, the windows of the home and car of a Muslim family are smashed, reportedly after a row about immigrants. A fundraiser is launched on behalf of the family, who are of African descent, and had just moved into their home, which was also burgled after they were forced to flee. (Birmingham Live, 5 July 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.