There is much discussion of the causes of what is being called 'far-right' rioting in the UK this morning.
No one is, unfortunately, calling it neo-fascist on mainstream media when that is what it is.
Nor is the term Islamophobia being used, at least as far as I have heard, including on the BBC. Anti-semitism is mentioned whenever possible by media outlets. When what we are seeing is outright Islamophobia, apparently, the media do not know how to use the term.
Nor is this violence being described as racist, because it is apparent that this is exactly what motivates those who are rioting.
And nowhere in the reactions that I am hearing from flag-waving Labour politicians is the fact that faux nationalism by those who similarly like to wrap themselves up in flags to further their political cause is a factor in all this. It's as if these Labour politicians don't realise that it was Farage and his cohort who started all this flag-waving nonsense in the first place and what they are doing is pandering to it.
Finally, there is no discussion of the fact that what we are witnessing might be perpetrated by a few, some of whom seem very good at mastering the art of misinformation, but the fact that it is happening reveals a wider likely feeling of alienation within our communities on which extremist sentiment feeds.
It is a fact that Stoke, Sunderland, Hartlepool, Liverpool and elsewhere lost out very badly during the neoliberal era that set out to destroy what so many of these places once contributed. No politician in power in 45 years has now sought to address the fact that Thatcher deliberately destroyed British manufacturing in pursuit of her political agenda that sought to undermine the power of working people, and no one has tried to replace it with anything else ever since.
Nor have they in any way sought to address the resulting inequalities in the UK.
Labour has already set out its stall. It will maintain child poverty, or increase it. It will penalise pensioners so that its books might be balanced. It has abandoned programmes that could deliver tens of thousands of skilled jobs working in the communities of the UK delivering green energy. And it has made clear that it does not want to tax the rich. The sense of alienation among those knowing that yet another government has no intention whatsoever of helping them is real.
Nothing condones neo-fascist, racist and violence. But the answer will not be prison sentences vastly lower than those given out for causing a traffic jam to protest about the real threats that exist in this world. The answer lies in changing our society to make sure people are not left out.
Labour appears to have no clue how to do that and no intention of listening or learning about what is needed. As a result, I despair about our situation. We never expected the Tories to address what was wrong with Britain, but once upon a time, we might have expected Labour to try to do so. Now, they don't.
There are answers to the state we are in. But when mainstream politics refuses to consider them, or even name what is happening, we are in trouble.
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There’s a lot of reference, in the msm, to far right rioting across the UK, occasionally Britain.
BBC: At least 90 people have been arrested after far-right demonstrations descended into disorder in towns and cities across the UK.
Telegraph: Emergency measures brought in as violent confrontations sweep across Britain.
Daily Mail:Looters ransacked shops across the UK as they took advantage of last night’s chaos as riots swept Britain.
Mirror: Scenes of anarchy erupted around the UK last night as anti-immigration protesters clashed with police, with rioters setting fire to buildings and vehicles and looting shops amid the chaos.
There have been no riots in Scotland and there appears to be none in Wales but perhaps Welsh readers can confirm. Yet another conflation of England as the UK or England as Britain. It is nothing of the sort.
Bit annoyed with the Mirror for misusing “anarchy” — the real anarchists were out the next day cleaning stuff up, nobody told them to do that and they organised themselves freely, which is the very acme of anarchism.
I am glad that are some who still feel a moral duty towards the civic while those in the name of the civic show nothing of the sort.
I believe something was supposed to happen in Wrexham but very few turned up.
Yep, spotted that.
If the rioting comes to Scotland we’ll definitely be name checked loud and clear.
This is the reason I defunded the BBC years ago. At leat the other channels don’t charge me a licence fee for their propaganda.
The neo-fascist movement can be seen clearly in Belfast, where NI Loyalists with their Union Flags have joined forces with Irish Fascists waving their Irish flags. Their joint aim to attack Belfast’s long established and peaceful Islamic centre. A organisation that has existed in one form or another for over 100 years and which navigated a peaceful path through our violent past.
This evil fascist alliance is an astonishing development in a place where Loyalist hatred and fear of everything Irish supersedes every other political cause. Yet here they all are conspiring with their long established enemies in order to attack a harmless and very respected local minority.
In my 72 years of striving to exist peacefully within the broken communities of Northern Ireland, and as a survivor of a car bomb massacre, I have never experienced anything so worrying or so distressing as this.
Thanks, and good luck in addressing this
Thank you for a most relevant article in its drawing to our attention the responsibility of misguided to damaging politicians and main media owners, direct and indirect, as well as most media workers, who operate a consistently deceptive cartel.
If either were genuinely informative might many to most problems be reduced to removed?
Might a cynic suggest that Neoliberal austerity was really introduced/imposed for political power reasons as well as wealth redistribution purposes.
1) Neoliberal austerity
2) Considerable discomfort/deprivation
3) Context for riots etc.
4) Introduction and application of draconian public control measures
5) Use of such measures to secure the shifts in wealth which were/are a prime consequence and purpose of Neo-liberal austerity
You recently posted about ‘the comfort classes’. The anger we are seeing across social media and on the streets is from ‘the uncomfortable classes’. Too few will be able to diagnosis the cause of the chronic discomfort they experience themselves, but have grown up with the misdirection that immigration is to blame and it’s clear that immigration get emotional attention and headlines.
Collectively, politician and the establishment that do know better have not worked anywhere near hard enough to correct the myths and misinformation. The underlying truth is that not all citizens are treated equally.
It is clear that immigration has benefits and costs and that those benefits and costs are not spread even.u across the population. While the net impact of immigration is undoubtedly positive, the impact on different regions / subsets of population is not universally positive.
That doesn’t justify the actions of a minority, some of which is unfortunately linked to racism, but some of which is justifiable anger and the adverse impact on their communities.
Until we recognise and acknowledge this, thing won’t change in these communities and the division between the sides will only grow.
Telling people that the economy grew and the UK as a whole is better off, is no comfort if you are one of the ones whose living standards have fallen.
Likewise, telling people that immigration is a great thing for the country is no comfort, if for you personally there have been significant downsides.
What are the downsides? Be precise.
Jake Carsley
I fully agree that the ‘effect of migration’ is felt differently in different geographical areas. I lived in London until I was 28. Everywhere you went you saw people who, from their appearance, may have been immigrants. I never counted, but it felt as if about 20% of the population looked as if their family were not originally from the UK.
I then moved to the north east where it was (and still is) very unusual to see someone who is visibly a possible immigrant. I can go for days without seeing someone whose skin is a different colour to mine.
Interstingly in London I never witnessed racism and there was a general acceptance that people were people and were treated accordingly. In the north east I hear unpleasant, racist comments frequently.
It would appear from my subjective example that the lived experience of immigration results in acceptance and that fear of and anger against immigrants is the norm where there is no lived experience. Perhaps because those people have to learn from politicians and MSM.
I’d suggest that the downsides to having a million immigrants each year are pretty obvious – pressure on housing, transport, health service, education. All could be ameliorated by a Government willing to govern and to acknowledge that if they are going to have immigration at this level then the market is not going to address the needs and Government needs to be building social housing, increasing the funding for NHS and education and looking at investing in public transport. Unfortunately we have had no proper government for the past 14 years but we have had a lot of rhetoric about all and any problems being the fault of the immigrants.
I’d also suggest that the bizarre way that visas are strictly attached to specific jobs has allowed more criminal behaviour to flourish and workers to be exploited.
Even the wishy washy (my description) William Keegan, an arch neoliberal masquerading as a progressive (again my description) compares Reeves to a Philip Snowden an iron austerity chancellor. He even categorieses Reeves as a Thatcherite chancellor.
Ok so maybe i am attaching too much importance to what i consider a lightweight economics journalist but even the mainstream are now having doubts. And we are only into the first month of this Government.
You are so right about the tendency to jump at anything remotely anti-semitic and ignore blatant islamaphobia. I think that is a worrying trend. I hadnt spotted that. Sometimes you just miss the obvious.
Keegan appears confused in his recent Guardian article “Britain didn’t vote Labour just to get a new iron chancellor”. When one considers the original Iron Chancellor was Prussia’s Otto Von Bismarck, he who developed the concept of Social Security, it seems highly likely that’s exactly what the nation was voting for.
Shame we got deranged neoliberals instead.
AliB , It makes no sense to talk about the load immigrants place on housing, NHS, etc., without acknowledging the contributions they make to those services. Remember also that as immigrants are on average younger than the rest of us they have less need for healthcare.
Bloomberg yesterday reported that Reeves was looking at increasing borrowing to cover black hole in finances.
No surprise. Whether admitted or not, whether taxes rise or not, it has always seemed to me inevitable. It always is inevitable. The Conservatives did it, even when they claimed they were succeeding in eliminating the deficit. The Conservatives claimed success over fourteen years of austerity that began with debt under £1Trn, and ended at £2.5Trn plus. It ends the same way.
Agreed
I have already suggested that Sunak decided to call a GE because he was aware of the looming prison crisis.
I now wonder if he, or some within the Conservative party were aware of the likelihood of riots
More the inevitability of riots. Given the state of the courts and the police and the prisons after 14 years of Tory underfunding, there’s really not a lot Labour can do about it either.
What most people in the UK don’t know about, because the mainstream media refuse to even mention it, was the largest protest of all held in London on Saturday. Once again I led an entirely peaceful protest march for Palestine with over 100,000 participants and no arrests. I lead the march because in my wheelchair I need a clear view of the road ahead and the organizers have got used to me being up front now. There was a strong police presence, calmly situated along our route, in order to protect us from far-right thugs. The deliberately deceptive BBC coverage mixed in a few random pictures from our demonstration, as if our peaceful march in London was part of the mahem. This was a useful way to confuse viewers who were told by Suela Braverman that protesters against the UK’s continued arms sales to Israel are ‘Hate Marches’.
Last weekend 15.000 joined a Tommy Robinson rally in Trafalgar Square, where the genuinely disenchanted were joined by drunken louts spoiling for a fight. I led the counter protest march organized by ‘Stand up to Racism’ and the police dutifully kept us at a safe distance from each other. We have a very good relationship with the police on our marches, because they know we are not interested in causing trouble. Tommy R provided the real motivation for future violence and vandalism with his hateful attacks on migrants. His thugs were primed and ready to latch onto the slightest perceived injustice as provocation to target Muslims and migrants. The London rally created a tinder box awaiting a spark and the major news coverage was sucked into that far-right sewer pit. Hate always makes for more dramatic headlines!
Being for peace in Gaza is silenced.
Antifa managed to push back the thugs in Nottingham by simple force of numbers. The far-right are, and always have been, a bunch of despicable cowards.
And soon to be jailbirds.
Why is there always the money, time and effort made (particularly the money) to clear up afterwards – courts sitting, judges, magistrates & lawyers all paid, victims of violence treated medically, pavements, windows, walls all repaired etc. But there is *never* the money or other resources to actually prevent some if not all of this. Having well maintained public spaces of delight such as parks, and use eg leisure centres and libraries; active and expanding youth centres and other community spaces for the like-minded, and not-so-like to gather and mix over activities etc. I know of course it’s a rhetorical question to which the answer involves some of the words ‘austerity’, ‘black hole’ and most of all ‘neo-liberal politics’.
David Harvey noted in his book “A Brief History of Neoliberalism” that the techniques were first laid down in New York in their 1975 financial crisis, which allowed the city’s creditors to dismantle the social support infrastructure in the name of “savings”, completely without any democratic mandate. Later politicians such as Rudy Giuliani were then able to take advantage of the social decay by campaigning on a “law & order” ticket.
Because the Government just spends the money. It is a matter of priorities; Government spends, no matter what – if it cares enough to choose it. If Government hadn’t prioritised Austerity for fourteen years, and ongoing with Labour, it appears; and repaired the fabric of society after thirty years of neoliberalism instead; we almost certainly wouldn’t be quite so deep in this mess, but as we can see making a mess seems to come only too easily in Britain.
Government chooses its priorities, and everybody else pays the price, one way or another.
Scumbag spreads disinformation about incident in Scotland.
From Yaxley-Lennon/Robinson on X: Alleged MUSLIM STABBED AT LEAST 3 WOMEN IN STIRLING SCOTLAND TONIGHT. They always target women . Will kier starmer talk about this
Police Scotland has taken the unusual step of confirming that the alleged attacker is aged 29, white and local. He is alleged to have stabbed a woman, aged 21, who was taken to the local hospital with a non-life threatening stab wound.
Police Scotland released this information as “false speculation spread on social media about the incident”.
AC,
Police Scotland have “on it” in the case of this tragic incident.
But we can’t have any good Scottish new reaching the press or Westminster’s tame tv channel.
That would never do.
The neglect of major social deprivation and worse – its deliberate exacerbation by the neo-liberal post CPS/Thatcher Tories – have combined to create underlying conditions which racist-right politicians and their internet enablers can, and apparently are, harvesting in public riot.
A responsible government, concerned for the preservation and future health of a civilised society must, IMO, do – and be seen to actually carrry out – four things, now if not sooner:
1. Snuff out the riots – these are not ‘protests’ in any normal sense – and arrest and see justice is done both to those reponsible for organising the affrays and those carrying them out.
2. Take all possible legal action, including new international procedures, to hold internet enablers – companies and individuals – of this organised, proto-fascist racism to book, including the imposition of crippling financial penalties.
3. Demonstrate swiftly – through actual changes to political and economic priorities – that they are making the repair of public services and effective economic and social support for deprived communities at the forefront of their programme for government.
4. Create a civil, legal and hospitable environment for the reception, acceptance and accommodation of migrants.
No one of these four initiatives will be sufficient – on its own. Only by applying all four will we see this low point slip behind the growth of a clear and steadily improving social order.
So far only the first approach would seem to have registered with the government and that is extremely alarming.
On April 29th 1995 Labour finally managed to change it’s party constitution.
‘Blair won a controversial vote to amend Clause Four of the Labour party constitution, ending the party’s hallowed commitment to mass nationalisation. On winning the vote, Blair had gone one better than Hugh Gaitskell and Neil Kinnock, both men having failed to dismantle Clause Four when they led the party’.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/from-the-archive-blog/2015/apr/29/clause-four-labour-party-tony-blair-20-1995
The changes to the Labour party beliefs and subsequent policies (light touch regulation for one) have been evident for almost 30 years now. As Thatcher was reputed to have said, she considered Blairs conversion of Labour to the right to be her biggest success. Blair himself clearly demonstrated how true that was.
“I always thought my job was to build on some of the things she (Thatcher) had done rather than reverse them”.
https://economicsociology.org/2018/03/19/thatcherisms-greatest-achievement/
Since 1995 Labour’s main (sole?) objective has been to gain and hold onto power. A prime example of that was their use of PFI funding as a manipulative way to con voters that they were improving the NHS & education infrastucture when the reality was that they were allowing poorly built facilities that were vastly overpriced to be a financial drain on key services for decades.
It’s not as if they hid what they had become since 1995. So with their current massive majority will they abolish the House of Lords or introduce proportional representation or do any of the things they go on about when they are the opposition. As always, their actions will speak louder than any words, although Labour’s use of constantly saying that the Tories have left a black hole when they left a note saying the same thing in 2010, is particularly deceitful and not a good sign of things to come.
We have had almost half a century of neoliberalism, since it displaced Keynesianism in the mid 70s.
Since then real wages have either declined or flatlined, despite continued GDP growth.
Most productivity growth has not been passed on to employees whose share has effectively reduced. The ratio of profit to labour costs has increased steadily.
Price gouging is a consistent feature of monopoly and oligopoly, (see Robert Reich) as is monopsony, driving down the sustainability of small suppliers.
Wealth has become much more concentrated, and only domestic property spikes have maintained what passes for a ‘middle class’ level of wealth.
(and those capital spikes then feed Ponzi like credit consumer growth, concealing the effects of wage suppression.)
When 3 bed semi-detached houses in Croydon are £500k+, then nominal wealth might look healthy, but access to the property market is incredibly curtailed. Generational discontent then increases.
An increasing % share of economic activity has been sequestered by capital and its technocracy.
The primary purpose of share buybacks is to increase capital growth and gains.
This has increased both inequality and relative poverty.
Correspondingly, it has become easier to ‘other’ minorities.
The far right thrives on unemployment and insecurity.
Hitler’s own success depended on the economic crash in Germany post Wall St.
Only 6m unemployed shifted the political balance in his favour.
Keynes reckoned macroeconomic policy had the central goal of full employment, and hence social stability. Now we have NAIRU, a pretty obvious theoretical artifice, with 5-6% unemployment seen as a satisfactory level.
The objective of 2% inflation is merely a cloak of concealment, as are most of the fiscal and monetary ironclads.
Monetary policy in the BoE has the stated goal of creating downward pressure on wage levels.
This means deliberately creating unemployment and raising levels of insecure low wage employment.
Employee rights have declined since unions have been suckered by successive neoliberal governments, and winning employment security is more like walking a tightrope these days for many, especially those remaining in manual work.
All this has been deliberate, with the intention of weakening and then suppressing the working population. It has been very successful. The aim is to protect capital with austerity having the specific aim of controlling the working population. Who in the elite cares if life expectancy falls ?
Now we can add in Chantal Mouffe’s political analysis to this mix. Political extremes are actually facilitated by the lack of differentiation between centre left and centre right, with the latter now dominant in the UK. When Gideon gleefully refers to Reeves as a mini-me, we ought to understand why he is gloating.
A key idea in politics is that those holding differing positions outline their underlying beliefs and analysis of societal needs, and then argue their case for a set of policies that match their belief system. This cannot happen with convergence of centre right and left.
The aim for broadly homogeneous centrist parties is only to secure power for its own sake, rather than to deliver a set of differentiated policies based on a well expressed set of values and fundamental beliefs. Nobody really seems to be arguing politics on this level any more.
Parties then suppress dissenters in their own ranks who want to ask the fundamental questions.
Disaffected and deprived sections of the population, those hit most by inequality and wealth suppression for working people, are roused by anger and fear. Wanting genuine change, they are both alienated and disenfranchised from the mainstream.
This increases vulnerability to the cults of populist leaders, who rely on ‘othering’, racism and ultra nationalism as their core features.
Civil ‘divide and rule’ strife works very well for the wealth owning and ruling elites, who are insulated from the daily struggles of most of the working population.
This concatenation of managerial consumer politics and neoliberalism is extremely toxic, and can only increase those forces which allow the emergence of fascistic minorities.
By any sensible measure, living standards have improved massively since 50 years ago – not sure why you are ‘blaming’ neoliberalism for improvements in living standards?
I have lived through those 50 years
I think for a great many living standards are very much worse
It is the workers who have improved living standards over the last 50 years. Neoliberalism has been ensuring the gains remain with the wealthiest.
Then re-read the post.
What GDP growth has achieved has been totally disproportionately distributed.
UK inequality has increased every year since 1977.
Relatively, and for the majority, increases in wealth and living standards have not kept pace with either GDP growth or productivity growth….. But credit has.
Nor are benefits equally shared, and especially at the margins..
Deprivation has increased massively.
We had two periods of 3m+ unemployed during the Thatcher era alone.
( a price worth paying, according to the dogmatists, because they were unaffected)
We have had persistent youth unemployment over 25% in several older industrial areas.
Why are so many children in their 30s still living at home ?
Both relative and absolute poverty have increased disproportionately in the last 15 yrs.
Yet overall wealth has grown enormously.
Just take a look at foodbank statistics in the last decade, let alone health outcomes.
My ex-father in law had rickets as a child in Stoke in the 1930s. It is back.
Both that and scurvy are on the increase with 10,000 cases + reported in 2022.
Male life expectancy is actually falling in parts of Scotland
It is all very well peddling the “rising tide raises all boats” myth, but there is a world of difference between a super yacht with a dozen crew and a 14′ wooden skiff which leaks constantly.
The disaffected and disadvantaged, deprived of life opportunities and stability, and financially vulnerable are those on the streets rioting, with the exception of their middle class self appointed leaders, none of whom come from that group.
Good grief Janet
What lovely parallel world you inhabit.
I was lucky enough to be paid quite a lot of money for doing my job. However, I did notice, however, that guys (mostly guys) who started 10 years later were paid exactly the same as I had been when I started.
When the 2008/9 bank crash came along I’m really embarrassed to say it didn’t really affect me but, ten years later, I realised that even with mostly annual pay rises I could afford no more than I could in 2009.
There were plenty of people making big money, it’s just that they didn’t work for a living.
If you’ve missed out on this period of history I’m concerned you may be in a coma.
Ah – Mouffe.
What do you think about her call for a Left style populism?
If only!
Is populism a derogatory phrase used by centrist elites or is it real?
Clem Attlee lost his second election despite getting more of the ‘popular’ vote. Left leaning thinking seems to be growing in populations who are more left than the people we are supposed to vote for.
Again, I encourage you to read Aurelien’s latest essay ‘No Left Turn’. It is game changer.
Thanks for the Aurelien recommendation – just reading No Left Turn – a warning to be cautious, rather than optimistic, when interpreting election results. An apparent victory for the left in France (or for the very slightly left in the UK) seems more to do with electoral processes and weightings than a concerted shift leftwards by voters. Starmer and his cabinet have no cause for self congratulation, if the events of the last few days don’t cause them to turn their thoughts towards addressing inequality and under investment, their time in office could be very short. I’m worried that Labour’s harsh and uncaring policies will help the neo fascists to gather more support and cause large scale riots and destruction.
The ‘far right’ is emboldened because millions more are led to believe that there are too many people on this island. Not just by the likes of Nigel Farage, but by the likes of Rachel Reeves. The corollary of “We cannot provide ourselves with [whatever] because there isn’t enough money” is that there are too many people. It’s a valid inference from a false premise. Of course people will then resent immigrants and others who don’t look and sound like themselves. It’s hardly a new phenomenon.
The austerity narratives are feeding what is happening, I agree
Really Richard, you can’t think of any downsides to immigration?
Does this help?
https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/152453/economics/pros-and-cons-of-immigration/
Now tell me, which of those have happened because of migration
And ignore the last – diversity is a strength, not a weakness and is the foundation of what this country is. So keep your prejudices out of it
The article says nothing about diversity being a weakness. It says disharmony is a weaknesses, something which has been very visible in the recent riots.
The other ‘cons’ are unarguable – basis supply/demand economics – which ones are you disputing?
Perhaps it’s your prejudices that are the issue here – or the lack of willingness to see things from another person’s perspective.
Disharmony is being created by those rioting
There is no evidence to support any of the other cons – and ample to the contrary. Look at the work of Jonathan Portes. Your claims are not supported. There is nothing to do with prejudices here – except yours.
It is not immigration per se that is the issue.
It is the way it is done.
There is very little support for new communities coming over to the UK even from former east European countries. They are taught very little about how to live here and local authority resources are not up to supporting centralised immigrant dispersal policies.
Similarly, there is not enough manpower or even will to uphold policies like the minimum wage.
For all that the anti- immigration brigade bang on about immigration undercutting wages, they never turn their ire on the greedy home grown capitalists who are the crux of the problem through their exploitative behaviour.
@ Pilgrim Slight Return
“……For all that the anti- immigration brigade bang on about immigration undercutting wages,…….”
These would presumably be the same immigrants who are only here to scrounge benefits.
If you made this stuff up nobody would believe it. We still live amongst those who didn’t realise that Alf Garnet was a satirical character.
Obviously the referenced piece was not written by anyone with any demographic expertise, and very much in a US context.
“It is argued immigration can cause issues of overcrowding, congestion, and extra pressure on public services.”
We are a long, long way from the era of Ellis Island and the ‘huddled masses’;
In demographic terms, yes, immigration can increase the dependency ratio, especially with high migration levels of families with young dependents.
However, the age-sex profile of immigrants can also reduce or stabilise the dependency ratio over a decade or so, depending on who are the immigrants.
In practice, immigration of those who have been through higher education, and are qualified, can actually take pressure off the need to expand vocational education.
Immigration is not a panacea for under provision of employment or low productivity, but that is a structural economic problem, not an immigrant one.
“There is also a debate about whether immigration of unskilled workers leads to downward pressure on wages and even unemployment of native workers. ”
The evidence for the UK pre Brexit, was that this impact was minimal, and enforcement of minimum wage levels is the key requirement.
Any country with poor employment protection and weak enforcement of minimum standards will be affected.
Again this is a structural government weakness in employment policy and legislation, and not necessarily a downside due to immigration.
Immigration can and will highlight existing economic weaknesses, but those are social and economic in origin and already exist entirely independently of immigration levels.
In the UK, Labour signalled last week that they are about to hit the 22%+ of economically inactive by forcing more people into work, through cuts of benefits and redefining disability.
We have 9.4m economically inactive, and that figure has been pretty static for almost two decades.
Now why might work be so unattractive for almost one person in four, of working age ?
The figures can be reduced, but not by forcing people to work, starve or freeze, as seems to be the intended Runtonomic approach, of benefits cuts and with dole office staff acting in an increasingly punitive role.
We need major increases in spending in primary care, mental health, and flexibility for disabled people to enter the workplace.
We need much stronger employment protection, especially for casual, agency and portfolio workers.
We need stable part time employment to be on offer, that doesn’t then have an associated marginal tax rate of 100% in benefit cuts.
Regardless of immigration, high quality and positive worker legislation will have a positive social and economic impact. That ought to be the start point.
Like most people around the world – I come from a long line of immigrants. We are all hybrids.
Post-brexit, I was able to secure Irish nationality because grandparents and their forebears had sought a better life and changed location according to the circumstances at the time. They survived. I qualified for Irish citizenship. (Generalisation Warning !!) — I recognise that many migrants benefit the society in which they settle and many appear to have a strong work ethic and value education as a way of making their own children’s lives a little more secure than their lived experience. Think of famous migration movements in the 20th century (or any other). It appears that successive generations tend to converge to the evolving society’s norm (a few generations down the line).
I’m surprised at some of the later additions on this blog. Much like Hitler’s supporters and thugs, many of the ‘settled’ or ‘indigenous’ people in the areas where there has been disturbances have had a gripe – they may well feel threatened / vulnerable. There are many people in our society who feel that their lot is prejudiced by the presence of some immigrants (Stewart Lee’s quip of “Poles were coming over here, doing jobs better than me, in a second language” (or something similar)). If you are the person who lost out on a task/job, you feel threatened. I have no doubt about that. Many people who are not confident in their role, behave badly in any work environment if they feel threatened/vulnerable. In our human evolution, it has been useful to be aware of differences and strangers. This is built in. Add a perception of threat, and an absence of options, and things become existential.
When we’ve had a series of Government ministers calling for a ‘hostile environment’, and blaming immigrants for all shortages after 14 years of austerity (and 45 years of neoliberalism!), then peoples’ natural concern becomes validated – and they have a target. This isn’t rocket science.
As RM said, Labour need to provide an alternative – people need to know/believe that there is some alternative – rather than have a basic “chimp brain” reaction to the level of existential threat perceived by many in our society. We also need leadership – we need someone to stand up and show that there is an alternative way forward – not simply echoing the nonsense of Farage, Braverman, et.al. But we also need to at least recognise that many in the UK do feel left behind – much like the NI unionists —- even though we don’t need to agree with their politics or reaction to violence / hostility. We need leadership – spell out the direction and the plan — supported by Investment, education, somewhere safe and healthy to live so people can nurture and be nurtured in a less threatening environment.
All noted
Looking through the comments and replies I have to conclude that there is a general agreement that years of austerity and underinvestment in our public services has severely damaged our societal quality of life. Combine this with the stagnation over 12-14 years in wage growth, something serious was going to happen eventually. But in my opinion it isn’t due the massive growth of the far right. I recently posted this on X –
“In a nation of 68,000,000 only 3.7m voted for UKIP & several years later just over 4,000,000 voted Reform, they are a stubborn but pretty static minority. However Tice and Farage are emboldening the knuckle draggers & they’re capable of much societal damage.”
So, clearly we have to be vigilant, and pro-active in creating a state of consciousness that is positive and progressive.
The influence of far right print media, disinformation and on-line propaganda on social media is unquestionable.
But the lack of critical thinking and questioning by the BBCNews, ITN and Sky during mainstream broadcasting hours allows much of the anti social, fake news, phobic views to go unchallenged. And, in my opinion this lack of critical thinking is a huge contributor to the downward spiral we’re seeing in certain sections of society.
If we go back to my point that the size of far the right voting grouping is pretty static, but highly energised right now, we must start thinking about the effect these people are having on the younger generations in their families, households and neighbourhoods. The number of kids who were on the periphery of the looting this weekend was quite shocking.
We need somehow to engage the non critical thinkers in our population and get them to understand what CT is and how it can better shape their understanding of the world we all live in. And of course this must be a core function of our education system, teaching kids to understand what dogma and propaganda is and how to divine truth from the mass of information and vested interest that’s pushed to us on a daily basis. This educated state plus public broadcasting that is boldly critical and truth seeking will help to break the ties to a mainly uncritical and frankly under educated sector of society that will eventually die out.
This new mindset must however be supported by a society and a government offering solutions of hope and improvement in both the short and long term. The Starmer/Reeves songbook is sharply out of tune with the UKs current array of needs. As Richard has stated many times, we are not skint, we have the resources to fix Broken Britain if only we had a government with the mindset to unleash societal change writ large through MMT.
Nothing will silence the dissenters quicker and more effectively than delivering public services that work for the public not profiteers, a cleaner environment for all, a safe, affordable roof over everyone’s heads, a guarantee of a richly rewarding retirement after years of working in fair working conditions with a fair wage, and for those who suffer incapacity the knowledge that there is a guaranteed integrated health and care sector free at the point of need to prolong you and your families wellbeing.
That word ‘wellbeing’ is so important, and it should be the cornerstone of all government policy.
Thanks
Maybe living in Ely you are not so understanding of the negative effects of mass immigration. Perhaps you need to widen your understanding of the situation? Or does your arrogance not lend itself to such thought?
We don’t have mass immigration. We have immigration, including here in Ely.
I see it as a benefit. I have no problem with migration. I come from a migrant family.
So, racism apart, what’s your problem with it?
@ Jane Jake
Well, I’ll lay claim to being a specialist human geographer, particularly migration, and have lived just off Railton Rd in Inner London, and in Lewisham, and have worked in Newcastle, Oldham, Rochdale, Halifax and Bradford, to name but a few multi-racial areas.
I have witnessed two race riots, one being in a school I then worked at.
Frankly, you are just spouting prejudiced tropes about immigration and are unable to provide any evidence to support your bigotry.
Attacking Richard directly in the way you have, merely exposes the fragility of your discriminatory attitudes.
Yes, there are downsides to immigration, but these are being exposed by, but are not caused by immigrants, or the principle of immigration.
They predominantly reflect existing economic weaknesses and longstanding social inequalities.
It is not the fault of immigrants we have sub standard post 18 education, poor housing, low investment , lousy GDP per cap, and dire labour laws.
Most issues have been caused by Tory economic and social policies over the decades, with the racist May’s ‘hostile environment’ directly feeding discrimination and prejudice.
This has then exacerbated by right wing populists who rely on petty chauvinism and intolerance to create their following.
Unfortunately, they can fool some of the people all of the time, apparently including both of you.
The history of the UK reveals how we are nation of immigrants. I come from a Irish background and have been told by family about the widespread racism they faced right up until the 1980s. In the town I lived in up until the early 80s it was common for shops to have notices on the door saying “no blacks, no dogs and no Irish”. Racist attitudes towards immigrants reveal a fundamental lack of knowledge about our history never mind the immortality of scapegoating people who have a different racial background to yourself.
I remember that racism and the crushing effect it had on my father, and being called names myself
‘There is no evidence to support any of the other cons‘
Really, Richard?
No evidence that adding millions of people will:
– increase demand for public services such as the NHS, schools etc? Previously you said that, even though spending on the NHS had increased in real terms, it hadn’t increased sufficiently to account for the higher population. Which is it, you can’t have it both ways?
– increased demand for accommodation won’t have caused excess demand for housing. Leading to strains on council services and increase in rents? Last week you were calling for rent controls because you said people were being priced out of the housing market!
– the riots are quite clear example of disharmony, where certain communities or individuals are feeling left behind (rightly or wrongly) and who are feeling the adverse impact of the issues referred to above.
So I’d say that there is plenty of evidence (in practice, in the real world) as well as in theory, for the cons of immigration, even if on an aggregate level, the benefits far outweigh the cons.
You do know migrants are teachers, work in the NHS, build houses and overall massively boost public services, don’t you?
And you know housing is short because house builders have refused to build, don’t you?
In other words, your claims are groundless.
You’re just a racist, is my conclusion. Don’t call again.
Well Richard, calling people racists who don’t agree with you has worked well previously, hasn’t it? We had Brexit thanks to people like you dismissing legitimate grievances, and it seems you’ve learned nothing.
Perhaps you can let out your spare room to some immigrants in Ely to help with the housing shortages?
Do you not notice I spend all my time calling out legitimate grievances?
Poor housing, expensive housing, a crumbling NHS, underfunded duration, low wages and so much more. What ar3 toy moaning about?
I call the issues out.
All of them.
I am now. I am saying there are grounds for grievances.
But I also know racism and migration cause none of these issues. In fact, migration solves most of them.
So, tell me why you’re still arguing with me, unless your problem with me is I am not a racist. Because that seems to be it.
Just waiting for “legitimate concerns”, the racists (and too many politicians) go to phrase to hide their offensive beliefs along with a number of other seemingly innocuous and reasonable terminology. As always language is important, it frames the terms of the discussion and some politicians have used the likes of “legitimate concerns” as a dog whistle for the far right, letting them know “we are on your side”. Much easier to dog whistle than face down the extremists.
https://www.bylinesupplement.com/p/legitimate-concerns?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Living standards have improved since my childhood in the 1950s, but largely through health services, both medical and environmental. Clean air, clean water, good public transport, local control under municipalisation etc all of them nothing to do with capitalism but hugely to do with the communality that was deliberately shattered from 1980 onwards. The flesh of that 30 years was gradually and deliberately stripped away, and although the momentum remained for a while, our society is a shell.
There has always been racism, and misogyny. All the far right’s attempts to organise have been thwarted, often physically in the 70s and 80s, until social media and the rightward drift of the parties in the C21 opened the door to ‘legitimate concerns’.
Perhaps Labour can start by addressing this (yet another) gift from the last 14 years……….
Conservatives left UK wide open to far-right violence, says former adviser
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/aug/04/conservatives-left-uk-wide-open-to-far-right-violence-says-former-adviser?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
I entirely agree with you: “ The answer lies in changing our society to make sure people are not left out.”
Though I’m certainly NO supporter of right wing politics myself, I do wonder if excluding those who are, within our First Past the Post electoral system, has motivated aggression, and whether proportional electoral representation where their views are represented in Parliament might have led to lower violence.
Maybe
The street thuggery that we’re witnessing is only one element of fascism It’s intimidating (as it’s meant to be) Behind these people are well-funded organisations that push for reductions in democratic rights, oppose any attempt to collectivize ownership of the economy, promote militarization & create ethno-nationalist ideologies
To the best of my knowledge no centre right government has ever defeated fascism The political solution lies with the formation of an active broad left movement that will take on the supporters of fascism at every level in society We should support anti-racist movements, encourage influential bodies such as the TUC to call on their members to oppose fascism & look to our local civic groups Let’s call for a massive demonstration in London against fascism & for our right to live in a free, fair & equal society where our economy works for the benefit of all
The neoliberal doctrine now permeates all aspects of our lives both economic and political. It ensures that ordinary citizens have no say in their treatment by large indebted companies either as customers or employees who only care about profit. Its tenets have been embraced without question by politicians of all strips. As a result the feeling of alienation is widespread and growing. We need to get back to a society that is reducing inequality, increasing prosperity for all, values and pays for its public services and doesn’t split people into deserving and undeserving while also really dealing with the growing threat of climate change. One should ask: who benefits from the current system?
Much to agree with
In the 1930s and 1970s the Labour movement (trade unions, communist Party, individual Labour Party members) mobilised against the fascists and swept them off the streets. They also put forward a positive political programme to appeal to disaffected working class people who were being attracted to nazis ideas. We need the same kind of mass movement again. We cannot rely on the police who in those periods did little to stop the fascists. I’ve been on many protests against the BNP and the police always ended up attacking the left and letting the fascists strut around screaming racist abuse. The police are part of the capitalist state whose primary role is to defend the interests of the rich and powerful in our country. The time to act is now before these small scale roots turn into a fully fledged fascist movement like the BUF in the 1930s.