Moving On From the Riots - to Where?

 

The riots, which began on July 30th in Southport and spread across the country, now seem a long way back in the past, which happens with all traumatic events that we seek to forget. For those who suffered during those horrible disturbances, the people trapped in the Southport Mosque who feared for their lives, the local residents whose walls were knocked down, all the injured police officers, the families of the three murdered children of the July 29th attack who suffered added anguish, the Asian families in Middlesbrough who were targeted by rioters, etc, this is understandable. For them, healing and forgetting is needed.

But for those of us who monitor the far Right, there is much to learn and a need for assessment of the riots. Only by analysing the origins of the riots and their development can we hope to stop them from happening again. I begin by relating a personal attempt at research.

The day after the Southport disturbances, I tried to find an explanation of the riots on far Right websites. I thought that this would give me an insight into how the mobilisation had happened so quickly and why the Southport Mosque was a target. I knew vaguely that the Southport knife attacker was thought to be a Muslim, but could not understand why the mosque had been targeted. After some browsing, I found an EDL chatroom, where, among a host of semi-literate vapourings celebrating the riots, I found one posting that seemed to provide an answer. According to one EDL supporter, the knife attacks in Hart Street on July 29th had been planned in the mosque. If this was a widespread view, it explains why the rioters gathered where they did and what they did - which was to attack the mosque.

At this point, I have to own up: I did not record the link, or the EDL supporters name (which was a nom de guerre anyway). When I tried to locate the chatroom again, I could find nothing. Hopefully, that is because the security authorities took it down. Obviously, I cannot substantiate what I have said, but I think events show that I hit on the correct explanation. And, of course, many rioters went simply to attack the police, to cause criminal damage and to loot shops.

Still, the principal query in my mind was: who organised the riots? To get the best information, I turned to Searchlight, the anti-fascist magazine with an outstanding reputation for monitoring the extreme Right. Expecting to find a conspiracy described, I was surprised to learn: 

"Fascist groups... who have done their damnedest to incite such angry racism for years, are secretly whooping with delight at what has taken place since the awful Southport murders. But let’s not make the mistake of believing that they actively organised it".

The Fash group leaders have tried to distance themselves from the riots, while privately rejoicing at the disorder and violent racism. Instead, Searchlight pins the blame on a number of individuals, including Tommy Robinson, but blames the direct agitation and mobilisation on one of Robinson's associates: 

"The man who bears more responsibility than most for the dreadful events of the last few days is Tommy Robinson’s mate and right-hand man, ‘Danny Tommo’, a criminal lowlife who is more than ever Robinson’s representative in the UK since Robinson scarpered back to Spain at the weekend to avoid a court appearance and probable jail".

It was "Tommo" (Daniel Thomas) who issued the call for the gathering in Southport. In a live broadcast online from his car, he summoned the mob:

“Every city has to go up.”

“Get prepared. Be ready. We have to.”

“It has to go off in different cities.”

“We have to show them we’ve had enough.”

“I’m ready to go. I know that a lot of you are. I’m speaking to other people at the moment”.

“We’re ready to go. We are, literally, ready to go.”

“Just get ready."

Surprisingly, "Tommo" was nowhere to be seen when things did go off - like Tommy Robinson.

Now, as we know, the police cracked down hard on the rioters, and have arrested hundreds, with the aim of tracking hundreds more. Perhaps the most fitting end to these disgraceful events, which blackened the name of Britain worldwide, was the magnificent turnout by many thousands of anti-racists on August 7th to counter Fash activity. In the event, the vast majority of the racist thugs stayed away.

It might be too soon to speculate, but we need to consider what the far Right will do next. After all the sentences have been served, the released extremists might, in some cases, abandon their extremism. The unrepentant (and the unarrested) ones will be left with a number of options. They could channel their activities into small scale persecution and thuggery, rather like British Movement and the National Front in the 1970s. They could wait, in the hope of another incident like the knife attack in Southport, which will arouse anger that they can exploit and cause another bout of rioting. Or they could, at least some could, aim to infiltrate a suitable right-wing , populist political party that they could influence from within.

I am, of course, referring to Reform UK, whose leader, Nigel Farage (NF) has been accused of helping to aggravate the situation on July 30th. Some commentators, indeed, describe the riots as "The Farage Riots". NF should be concerned that Patriotic Alternative's leader, Mark Collett, has talked of putting "clean skin" infiltrators into Reform UK. Searchlight quotes Collett as saying:

“So, in a very real sense, a dedicated group of ethno-nationalists who have not been previously politically exposed could join Reform UK and do great things – effectively turning them into a vehicle for something better and more robust”.

According to the BBC, NF today, at the Reform UK conference in Brighton, has said that there is no place for the extreme Right in his party and party officials will be seeking to keep them out. As the BBC says:

"He added the party would be "vetting candidates rigorously at all levels," after dropping candidates during the general election following reports they had made offensive or racist comments. "We haven't got time, we haven't got room for a few extremists to wreck the work of a party that now has 80,000 members and rising," he added".

NF might yet eat those words. The only right-wing extremists expelled from Reform UK that I know of were all exposed in the press or by anti-fascist groups. 

All in all, apart from the splendid mass anti-racist turnout and the many arrests following the riots, the shock of the riots will remain with us for a long time. But some people might seek to turn the events to their advantage...

Tory leadership candidate Robert Jenrick has made the astounding claim that mass migration and "woke culture" (what is that?) have put England's national identity at risk. Jenrick has been heavily criticised for this , but his views bear a close resemblance to the "dog-whistle" assertions of far right speakers such as Tommy Robinson, Katie Hopkins and Laurence Fox (and many of the rioters). Sky News comment here:

"Mr Jenrick suggested a suppression of England's identity helped lead to riots this summer following the Southport stabbings".

Mr Jenrick, you see, has detected a window of opportunity created by the riots. As he sees it, he has an issue that he can exploit with the section of the electorate who have a degree of sympathy with the rioters. Like them, he blames something called the "metropolitan establishment" for this English identity suppression and, like many Tory politicians, he fears the rise of Reform UK. And this man may become Tory leader and, perhaps, prime minister one day. 

Time may heal many of this summer's traumas, but I fear that we may have more to come.