The fantasy of the far-right menace

A new investigation has thrown up some interesting facts about the summer riots

Photo: Radarsmum67 / Wikimedia Commons

Liberal media commentators, politicians and activists were so sure. Britain had a serious – and growing – ‘far-right’ problem. The wave of violence and protest that had erupted following the horrific slaughter of three young girls in Southport in July had demonstrated the fact.

And they knew who to blame for the upsurge in far-right activity: mainly malicious domestic actors and so-called ‘populists’ who had at some point publicly questioned the purported benefits of mass immigration and state-sponsored multiculturalism. In so doing, these characters had, we were led to believe, inspired a horde of neo-fascist agitators to come out from their hiding places and wreak havoc on Britain’s towns and cities. Some had even dubbed the violence the ‘Farage riots’.

So that was that. Britain was under threat from a resurgent far-right movement, and anyone who questioned the narrative was dismissed out of hand or told that they were sympathising with the wrongdoers. In a television debate, an academic got rather cross with me when I told him that his claim that Britain had ‘mainstreamed’ far-right ideology was complete and utter nonsense.

Yet a new investigation has revealed that those of us who challenged the received opinion of the condescending liberal class were right to do so.