THE horror of riots and naked violence that Britain is facing from so-called far-right activists is not, as is frequently presented by some politicians and sections of the media, an expression of legitimate concerns and grievances of ordinary people at “excessive” or “uncontrolled” immigration or the supposed misdeeds of immigrant communities.
And it is certainly not the fault of the peaceful protesters demanding an end to genocide or the destruction of our environment, even though the former have routinely been categorised as “hate marchers” and the latter have been treated far more harshly in the courts than violent and destructive racist right-wingers who took to the streets, chanting slogans “no surrender” and “England till I die” and even more harshly than those far-right activists who took to social media spreading Islamophobic lies in an attempt to whip up a racist mob.
Britain is facing the growth of fascism, often funded by right-wing groups and individuals abroad, and the lifting of social taboos against the expression of racism. This is not accidental or simply a natural cyclical phenomenon, as unavoidable as the weather.
Instead, it grows out of the overt and structural fascism of the British state as manifested in successive governments over decades. This both creates the economic and social conditions in which far-right bigotry can thrive and drives that development through the deliberate use of scapegoating to divert attention from the realities of government failures and agendas creating systemic inequity and inequality.
And as always, this is underpinned by a capitalist system that seeks to protect its interests and, currently, to divert attention from capitalism’s global crisis and to demonise those who demand change.
Fascism, inherently an assault on the working class and its rights, it can be argued, is not far removed from the mindset of the far right of the Conservative Party that held such influence for years — and still now influences the Labour Party under Keir Starmer, which arguably has taken a reactionary stance on immigration, disabilities and benefits and panders to the wishes of capitalism even in these early days of the Starmer government.
A look at the fundamental characteristics of fascism shows how far it has already advanced in Britain at the hands of successive governments.
Italian philosopher and academic Umberto Eco noted, in his 1995 essay Ur-Fascism, there are 14 characteristics of fascism. It can be argued at least nine of them are easily recognisable in Britain and driven by government propaganda and language, including under the current government.
The Cult of Tradition — the constant appeal to imagined “British traditions” and “British patriotism” as an excuse for repression of difference and dissent.
Disagreement Is Treason — this kind of rhetoric was common and barely disguised, again in recent Tory governments. But it has also been a defining feature of Keir Starmer’s regime within the Labour Party and is already threatening to replicate itself in government.
