Guardian Fletter on the danger of the far right in British politics. Trouble ahead, trouble behind
Italy has a neo-fascist Prime Minister, Germany has seen the rise of Nazi-tribute politics and the French fascist Marine Le Pen considers to be a major force in politics. In the UK, while far right politics is far from absent from official political discourse, actual fascists have remained relatively marginal. Stand Up to Racism, Unite Against Fascism and others have a perpetual job to counter the at the moment splintered UK far and fascist right.
The Tamworth By-Election in particular suggested there could be trouble ahead
Labour’s two byelection victories are good news. Whatever reservations there may be about a Starmer government, the demise of the Tories is long overdue. That said, the Tamworth result also provided a warning. Parties of the far right – Reform UK, Ukip and Britain First – got a combined vote of over 9%. If a Labour government doesn’t address the issues this raises, something a lot worse could be on the rise.
Keith Flett
London (23rd October)
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