By Martin Woodley
For two weeks the UK has been plunged into the worst and most widespread period of organised far-right violence in living memory. These were explicitly motivated by racist, Islamophobic and anti-migrant hostility, vandalising homes, property and places of worship, and specifically targeting hotels housing refugees with arson attacks, and refugee centres and services. There were violent clashes with police and hundreds of arrests were made. In the end, this current upsurge of far right violence has run its course – the legal system has cranked into overdrive, and exemplary sentences have been handed out. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged that those responsible will face the “full force of the law”.
The spark that lit the flame was the knife attack resulting in the deaths of three children in Southport which elicited widespread shock and abhorrence. However, within hours of the attack far right social media accounts falsely amplified the rumour that the perpetrator was a Muslim illegal immigrant, when the truth is that the perpetrator was a Christian born in Cardiff of Rwandan extraction. This immediately resulted in an organised attack on the local Mosque in Southport. However, it must be emphasised that the riots continued long after it had become clear that the original amplified rumours were entirely false, which proves that the far right mobilisations have deeper motivations
However, crucial to the rapid ebbing of the tide of reaction was the fact that the opposition to the far right riots was the ability of the black communities and primarily the Muslim communities to rise to their own defence, and for the anti-racism movement to stand shoulder to shoulder with communities under attack. Therefore, whilst it was not possible for mainstream right wing forces in the media and politics to publicly express support for the orgy of violence that was unfolding – with episodes such as the attempt to burn down a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham while the asylum seekers were inside the building, there was unity between the communities who rose to defend their neighbourhoods, and the anti-racism movement that rallied to their support. A magnificent anti-racism mobilisation of around 25,000 nationally on Wednesday 7 August – around 8,000 in Walthamstow, 7,000 in Bristol and 2,000 in Liverpool simply out mobilised the right.
However, given the emergence of right wing forces and political realignment to the right not just in the UK, but across the west as a whole, and in particular an ever greater emphasis from these forces on issues of immigration, race and culture, it is necessary to analyse whether these riots are a singular feature of the current situation, or are a permanent underlying factor of the period into which we are entering.
Fascism, antisemitism and zionism
First it is necessary to understand the direct triggers of the far right upsurge. It is well known that the instigator in chief of the upsurge is considered to be Tommy Robinson (Stephen Yaxley-Lennon). Tommy Robinson has supported pro zionist rallies, and is a cheerleader for the genocide in Gaza. His support for Israel goes back at least to 2011, and in fact the English Defence League’s incorporated name changed from the English Defence League to the English and Jewish Defence League after only one month.
It is important to understand that the far right are simultaneously antisemitic and passionately pro zionist. Long before the construction of whiteness, and hence the construction of race as a category in the seventeenth century, the reconquest of the Iberian peninsula by Ferdinand and Isabella entailed the mandatory conversion of Jews and Muslims to Christianity, and the Spanish inquisition was instituted in order to ensure a genuine conversion at the pain of being burned at the stake. Even at that time, Jews and Muslims were considered to be a dangerous ‘un-European’ force. Centuries of pogroms against the Jewish population in Europe reinforce the view that Jewishness is considered to be an alien culture. Currently, the language of the reconquest is widely used in far right circles in Spain and Portugal. While the principal instigator of the fascist riots in the UK is considered to be Tommy Robinson who is a strong zionist, and the riots are overwhelmingly racist and Islamophobic, evidence of the antisemitic sensibilities of the rioters is evident.
Trump commented that the 2018 Unite the Right march in Charlottesville consisted of ‘good people’, when their main chant was ‘the Jews will not replace us’, and yet proved to be the first US President to dare to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital by moving the US embassy there from Tel Aviv. Many people were understandably confused. While the current riots are principally racist and Islamophobic, evidence of the antisemitic sensibilities of the rioters has been evident.
What drives the far right
Robinson’s reasons for inciting the riots, claiming that ‘now is the time’ are: the massive Gaza solidarity demonstrations since October 2023, which Robinson claims is another example of ‘two tier policing‘ – or the police differentially treating black people more leniently than white people; the Harehills disturbance, which Robinson again characterises as ‘two tier’ policing; Reform UK’s vote count – double that of the Greens, and outstripping even the Liberal Democrats in the general election – running explicitly on an anti-migrant manifesto; Starmer’s rescinding of the UK objections to the ICC arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant; the violent police assault on a Muslim man at Manchester airport, and the subsequent protests which resulted in the officer being suspended from duty.
Forces on the right of politics have been trying to get the Gaza solidarity demonstrations banned ever since October last year, characterising them as ‘hate marches’, without success. In general, there was a rising tide of Islamophobia under the Conservative government. Indeed, a poll of Conservative members revealed that more than half see Islam as a threat to the British way of life.
Added to these were the fact that the Labour Party paid a political price for its faithful support of the genocide in Gaza in the general election since there were substantial votes against Labour for candidates that stood in favour of a cease-fire and condemned the Israeli aggression. This was particularly the case in constituencies with large Muslim populations, and famously led to a number of prominent Labour front bench MPs losing or coming close to losing their seats. Therefore, the Muslim populations have constituted themselves as an insurgent force on the Palestine question and which, together with the Greens and other independent MPs exert left pressure on the Labour government. So while the government retains a commanding majority, there is political fragmentation and realignment on the right, and fragility on Labour’s left flank.
Moreover, Labour’s attitude is to deny Islamophobia and to keep it out of the discourse. Therefore, the government’s approach to the riots was to crack down on the rioters and to encourage harsh sentences, characterising the activity as far right thuggery, and lack of respect for the police. It was left to independent MPs to point out that the approach of the government was pandering to ‘ugly racism’ with references to ‘understandable fears’.
The objective material conditions facing the population after fourteen years of austerity under the Tories is declining living standards, crumbling public services, insufficient housing stock, persistent inflation, growing inequality – ie the transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich, widening precarious living – ie more people living with greater outgoings than incomes, local authorities such as Birmingham going bust.
Furthermore, the election of a Labour government, far from signalling a change of economic policy in order to reverse these conditions, is set to continue with more of the same. The government have already shown their intention to keep the Tories two child benefit cap and have scrapped the winter fuel allowance for most pensioners. The worsening material conditions and the government’s pledge to continue the austerity of the Tories is leading to the emergence of insurgent political forces.
The objective conditions only specify a part of the scenario. There are also subjective perceptions. The basis of the recent rise of the far right across Europe and North America is the demographic fear that the increase in the non-white population in comparison with the white population will dilute the power and threaten the culture and values of white people. For instance, in 1980 white people comprised 80 percent of the US population, whereas in 2024 whites accounted for just 54 percent. This alone is all that is necessary to understand the obsession with the so-called ‘border crisis’ in the US. While a lower level of ‘crisis’ exists in Europe, it nevertheless underlays a similar obsession with migration – specifically migration from Africa and West Asia.
Added to these perceived internal threats, there are the current supposed external threats posed by the rise of the global, and non-white majority in general, and of China specifically. The past five centuries of white domination initially from Europe and later from North America appears to be coming to a close. Here, the revulsion of the overwhelming majority of the world to Israel’s genocidal war in Palestine and its expression in the UN General Assembly, and the isolation of the US and UK in the Security Council, plus the interim judgements of the ICJ and the application for arrest warrants for the Israeli Prime Minister and Minister of Defence at the ICC means that for the first time the white supremacist, settler colonial project that is Israel is now facing an existential threat. Furthermore, the superior productive capacity of China in a number of areas of production is outcompeting all the imperialist powers on the economic terrain. The only option open to imperialism is to inflict a military defeat on China so powerful that it drives China’s development into reverse.
While the ruling class maintains control of the apparatus of coercion, the mass media and consensus forming apparatus, the working class comprises the overwhelming majority of the population. Therefore when the material conditions come into conflict with the political orientation of the overwhelming majority of the population either the material conditions have to be changed, or the political orientation will change. An attempt to change the material conditions by adopting a new policy orientation based on prioritising the interests of the many instead of the interests of the few was what the Corbyn movement which briefly led the Labour Party was about. For the ruling class this had to be dealt a crushing blow. But despite the mobilisation of the full consensus forming apparatus against it, Corbyn’s policies remained popular. It wasn’t until the deployment of the charge of antisemitism was levelled at the left of the Labour Party, and the popular association of Brexit with border control and immigration could be harnessed in the 2019 general election that the lethal blow could be delivered.
Essentially, class consciousness – and support for a left Labour political project – was crushed and imperialist national consciousness surged – essentially, a belief that British culture, values and white identity were under threat and had to be defended. The Labour left – which has continuous traditions and organisation going back to the Bennism of the 1970s and 80s – was defeated. The IHRA definition of antisemitism – which conflates anti zionism with antisemitism – was universally adopted. Culture wars, with their ‘anti-woke’ emphasis rife in the USA during the Trump presidency were imported to the UK. The deteriorating material conditions, along with the supposed deteriorating moral conditions were blamed on mass immigration, and a new emphasis was placed on a post-Brexit effort to stem the tide of small boats.
This is the environment that allows a counterrevolution in race relations to be contemplated. Therefore, any initiative designed to address racial or religious discrimination will be attacked as ‘racism against white people’. The charge of ‘two tier policing’ is nothing but an actualisation of this principle. Currently in the US, the designation of any policy aimed at enhancing diversity, equity and inclusion is automatically denigrated by the MAGA right as an infringement of the rights of white people.
Conclusion
As a result of the riots and the particular concentration on Muslim communities, there has been an effort on the part of civil rights groups and Muslim representative organisations to have the government adopt a definition of Islamophobia, similar to the definition of Antisemitism. However, unlike the haste with which the IHRA definition was adopted in 2018 at the height of the attack on Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party, there have been many objections to adopting something similar for Islamophobia, notably objections on the grounds of free speech have been raised. Moreover, as a result of the media coverage of the far right riots it emerges that there are objections even to the use of the word Islamophobia in this context. All this reinforces the suspicion that there exists a hierarchy of hate speech, with the protection of Jewish sensibilities – notably on the state of Israel – being sacrosanct at the top, while the sensibilities of black people and Muslims languish far down at the bottom.
Therefore, the conditions for the permanent presence of a substantial far right political factor have been established. These are; a massive defeat of the left in the Labour Party opening the way for the continuing of Conservative policies even in the absence of a Conservative government – ie. a partial crushing of class consciousness; the adoption of the ideas and sensibilities of the far right by a substantial section of the population signified by the 4.1 million votes for Reform UK at the general election – ie. a surge in imperialist national consciousness; the existence of well organised and networked racist thugs willing to carry out the will of the emergent far right political forces; a government not disposed to confronting the racist far right threats head on.
Image: Van on fire during the 2024 Southport Riots; Source – StreetMic LiveStream – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHzcX4CIZN0 ; Picture cropped. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.