{"id":88299,"date":"2025-12-10T07:14:34","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T07:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/?p=88299"},"modified":"2025-12-10T07:14:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T07:14:34","slug":"trumps-war-on-europe-is-all-about-racism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2025\/12\/10\/trumps-war-on-europe-is-all-about-racism\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s war on Europe is all about racism"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Guardian reported<\/a> yesterday that Donald Trump has once again been grossly derogatory about the impact of immigrants on European countries. Doing so, he is claiming that immigration is destroying European civilisation. That is a direct and racist attack on the lives, dignity and rights of millions of people who live here. It is also, and let's be clear about this, a threat to democracy itself because Trump is explicitly supporting far-right neo-fascist parties.<\/p>\n

I need to be very clear about what appears to be happening.<\/p>\n

First, Trump is not offering an argument. He is promoting hatred. His rhetoric is based on the assumption that people who are not white, and not \u201cChristian\u201d by his definition, are lesser beings. That is racism, pure and simple. It has no place in any serious discussion about how societies manage migration.<\/p>\n

Second, this is not about America alone. Trump is deliberately exporting his own politics of fear to Europe. His intent is to encourage similar far-right movements here to copy his approach. He wants to tear apart diverse societies by portraying their normality, with neighbours of different backgrounds living side by side peacefully, as a threat when there is no evidence that this is the case.<\/p>\n

Third, there is no rational foundation for what he says. As a matter of fact, Europe\u2019s economies depend on migrants to care for our elderly, keep our hospitals running, strengthen our universities, and contribute in countless sectors starved of labour. There is nothing unusual about this: the USA has precisely the same problems, and both face problems with ageing populations. Without migration, pensions might collapse, public services might shrink, and social care, which is already fragile, could break altogether. The idea that migrants are in Europe to undermine our societies rather than to contribute could not be further from the truth.<\/p>\n

Fourth, Christianity is not Europe\u2019s cultural core. Most Europeans, including most of those who vote for the far-right, are not practising Christians. To claim that \u201cChristian civilisation\u201d must be defended against migrants is simply an excuse to impose white supremacy with a religious veneer. It is a lie. And like all lies of this sort, its purpose is to divide.<\/p>\n

So, why does this matter?<\/p>\n

First, when you describe people as Trump does migrants, the risk of violence follows. History leaves no doubt about what happens when politicians normalise dehumanisation. Attacks rise. Laws become more punitive. Rights are stripped. And some will feel licensed to take cruelty into their own hands.<\/p>\n

Second, this rhetoric erodes solidarity \u2014 the foundation of any democracy. Once governments are encouraged to pick and choose who counts as fully human, the door opens to target almost anyone. It might be refugees today, but it can as easily be disabled people tomorrow, and dissenters and protesters after that.<\/p>\n

Third, inequality, and not migration, is the real crisis. People are anxious about wages, housing, public service cuts, and social insecurity. The far-right exploits that fear, and then blames migrants, whilst letting billionaires, landlords, and austerity completely off the hook. Trump\u2019s story protects the powerful by demonising the powerless.<\/p>\n

Fourth, Europe\u2019s identity is at stake. We need to ask whether we are a continent where human rights and social justice matter, or one that shuts its doors to those who look and sound different? This is not just a national issue: it is a continental one as well.<\/p>\n

We have a simple choice. We either defend the equal worth of every human being or we let racism define our politics. There is no middle ground. In that case, anyone who considers themselves progressive must:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    Say without hesitation that this is racism. It is not controversial language and is not about border controls. It is all about racism.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    Refuse to let migrants be scapegoats for failures of economic policy. Austerity, privatisation and financialisation have all contributed to creating insecurity, not those seeking a safer life.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. \n

    Demand a humane migration policy that invests in integration, housing, public services and decent work. That, as the late Tony Benn pointed out, is how democratic societies strengthen themselves.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  4. \n

    Stand alongside the people Trump attacks \u2014 because defending their rights protects everyone\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In conclusion, Trump is telling us something, but not about immigrants. He is instead talking about himself and those who want power by dividing people. They have no answers to the crises we face, whether they be inequality, climate breakdown, or collapsing public services. So they blame those with the least power.<\/p>\n

    No country in Europe, including all those that make up the UK, should follow him down that road. We should build a society where everyone who is here, regardless of where they were born, who they are, what they believe, and what colour their skin is, can belong, contribute and thrive. This is not na\u00efve idealism. It is the only basis on which a fair, prosperous and democratic Europe can survive.<\/p>\n

    Racism has never built a better future. Solidarity always has.<\/p>\n

    \n

    Comments\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

    When commenting, please take note of this blog\u2019s comment policy,\u00a0which is available here<\/a>. Contravening this policy will result in comments being deleted before or after initial publication at the editor\u2019s sole discretion and without explanation being required or offered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The\u00a0Guardian reported yesterday that Donald Trump has once again been grossly derogatory about the impact of immigrants on European countries. Doing so, he is claiming
     Read the full article…<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,16,203,75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-corruption","category-ethics","category-fascism","category-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88299"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88315,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88299\/revisions\/88315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}