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Racism is the cause of the far-right riots, not deprivation
DIANE ABBOTT takes issue with the way politicians and the media are portraying the recent wave of violence which lets racists off the hook
ACTION AND REACTION: (L to R) Anti-racist activists confront anti-immigration mobs outside the Refugee and Migrant centre in Birmingham on Wednesday August 7 2024; A fire-damaged Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB) office in Sunderland during the race riots of August 3 2024

IT IS important to correctly characterise the recent racist riots.

As is usually the case after a major upheaval in politics, all sorts of explanations are offered. Many of them will be from people or forces with a political agenda, not an objective assessment.

We should not be surprised now when politicians and others who want to downplay the issue of racism as the driving force behind
the riots who themselves have been unwilling to challenge racism over several years or have even fostered it.

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