This briefing paper is aimed at providing community sector voices, concerned politicians and policy makers with an overview of trends on the far Right, also examining developments in electoral politics, and international hard Right movements, that serve to amplify far-right themes.
The last six months have seen far-right manipulation of protests outside asylum accommodation, the Unite the Kingdom rally in London on 13 September, a rapid escalation in racial violence across the UK and threats issued against NGOs working on migration and refugee issues. In response to these multiple threats, the IRR published briefing holds these key findings:
- US hard-Right influence on UK political parties and the far Right is increasing
- The centre of UK politics has shifted towards the hard-right racist and anti-immigration politics associated with the global rise of the populist Right, Trumpism, and National Conservatism
- The organisation, branding, and merchandising of the Unite the Kingdom rally suggests an attempt to create a UK version of Make America Great Again (MAGA)
- The US trend associated with the rise of Trump, of anti-woke ‘citizen journalism’, has come to the UK and has led to attacks on the work of migrant and refugee charities, philanthropic trusts and foundations, lawyers, and judges
- Parliament is engaged in a race to the bottom on immigration: Reform, Conservative, and Labour politicians are playing the ‘numbers game’, attempting to mimic the approach of Enoch Powell
Author of the report, IRR director Liz Fekete warns:
‘Today, the violent enforcers of Britishness are active across the country, enforcing the internal racist frontier, the frontier between ‘us’ and ‘them’. It’s vital that we fight back against this intimidation, which also shrinks the space in which NGOs operate. While people will be rightly concerned with safety, we also need to recognise that real security comes from ending corrosive culture wars, expanding local democracy, and developing an everyday anti-racism, in recognition that solidarity is strength and neighbourhood belongs to all of us.