The far-right is on the rise in Britain, in a crisis you cannot stop with compromise

The far-right are back on the streets of Britain in a crisis of our politicians and media’s making.

For too long, those in power have spread falsehoods about immigrants, demonised those coming here for a better life, and let the poison of bigotry not so much drip into society as course through its veins.

The scenes in Southport were grotesque, terrifying and shameful, but they were anything but a surprise. Tommy Robinson is not a new entity. The English Defence League has not just come into existence. These bigots have long existed in Britain, profiting off people’s fears and taking advantage of misinformation to further their hateful cause. And for so long, our politicians have fed them.

This is not to say they have embraced the tactics or language of the far-right. But the language used to talk about immigrants, across the media and our political debate, has undoubtedly moved and indulged those who would seek to divide us. Instead of confronting bigotry, politicians and papers have minimised it.

When Nigel Farage stood in front of a poster showing a queue of migrants and refugees that unions warned incited racial hatred, he won a referendum. That’s to say nothing of the odious pledge to ‘stop the boats’ - a promise that focused on those fleeing persecution, rather than the people smugglers. Because they are, after all, people, no matter how hard those on the right have sought to suggest otherwise.

Britain’s multicultural society should be a source of pride and instead the talk is of pulling up the drawbridge, and leaving those less fortunate to die.

It is how you see pollsters like Matt Goodwin, or the celebrity teacher Katharine Birbalsingh, dismissing the idea the rioters were "all far right" or calling the term "meaningless".

These people have become well known through outlets more interested in clashes than the truth, and in turn false narratives are given legitimacy. It's the same for Laurence Fox, a man whose comments aired on the BBC was enough to give him a platform, who this week called to "permanently remove Islam from Great Britain". These people do not exist in a vacuum, they have been created and promoted by outlets pushing clicks, instead of truth.

The battle now is how to confront this. It is something that will not be done by continuing to pretend there are in any way “legitimate concerns”. Labour has rightfully condemned the riots and is seeking to improve the policing of such issues, but that does not address the root cause.

Politics is partly about meeting people where they are, but also bringing them with you. It is imperative the UK government, and indeed the media, consider their own role in the anti-immigration sentiment that is well past bubbling under the surface.

You do not combat fascism by making compromises, and in the social media age, politicians and journalists have a responsibility to consider their own language. This cannot happen again. This is not who we are as a country. And it is long past time we made that clear.