UK: where is the far right’s hatred coming from?


There were more violent protests by right-wing extremists in the UK on the weekend, triggered by a knife attack in which a 17-year-old allegedly killed three girls and seriously injured several other people in the seaside town of Southport last Monday. Online misinformation according to which the perpetrator was a Muslim asylum seeker fuelled the protests. Europe’s press looks for answers.


The Sunday Times (GB) /

Malignant growths

The rioters have high-profile supporters on the far right, The Sunday Times explains:

“The far-right movement has metastasised online. A false claim on a news website that the Southport stabber was an asylum seeker on a security watchlist was shared by Andrew Tate, the misogynist influencer, and Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, the former English Defence League [a right-wing extremist and Islamophobic party] leader. ... The speed with which misinformation can circulate and groups form on social media and WhatsApp poses evolving challenges for policing. Another is the fact that some mainstream politicians on the right have given succour to the grievances now being aired in bloody style.”

In.gr (GR) /

How hate spreads

This kind of mob can grow rapidly, warns In:

“Initially, the far right receives support from all those parties that are supposedly on the constitutional side of the spectrum but which adopt the far right’s agenda and rhetoric, racism and anti-immigration policies. ... Then it is backed by those governments who believe that the answer to the rise of the far right is to put its policies into practice by normalising hate speech, thereby giving them more legitimacy. And, of course, they are supported by all those media outlets that are quick to reproduce nationalism, racism and xenophobia because they believe it ‘sells well’.”

Lefteris Charalampopoulos
De Standaard (BE) /

Farage and far right share the blame

Right-wing extremists are exploiting the frustration in the country, complains De Standaard:

“Since Brexit, illegal migration across the Channel has increased, partly because the British can no longer send migrants back to France. On the other hand, legal migration from Europe has ceased, leading to labour shortages in the construction, healthcare, agriculture and hospitality sectors. The far right is exploiting the Southport tragedy to unleash all the pent-up violence among the frustrated. The fact that some British Reform UK politicians, including Farage, fuelled this hatred by confirming misinformation about the perpetrator makes them complicit in the wave of violence.”

Inge Ghijs
The Observer (GB) /

A challenge for the new government

Labour must now take decisive action against the right, says The Observer:

“Starmer struck exactly the right tone in labelling the week’s events as an assault on the rule of law, and announcing an initiative to coordinate intelligence and action between police forces across the country. The government must also ensure that social media companies fulfil their legal obligations to prevent the spread of misinformation and further incitements to violence. And given the clear anti-Muslim hatred evident in the violence, the police must be properly resourced to provide mosques with the security they need.”

Cumhuriyet (TR) /

The police cannot be trusted

According to Cumhuriyet, to prevent a fascist movement from turning into a broad-based political party it is crucial to create

“a strong, active movement against Islamophobia and adopt a multi-layered approach against racism. The fact that anti-fascist forces have taken to the streets against the fascists is promising. ... Social democratic governments have long believed that they could stop this form of fascism by sending in the security forces. However, given the institutionalised racism and sexism among police and the ease with which the fascist movement can infiltrate the police force, this is an illusion.”

Ergin Yıldızoğlu

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