Recently, there was a protest in London, organised by hard-right activists like Tommy Robinson. Swathes of people – albeit not nearly as many as Robinson would have you believe – dressed up as knights draped in flags, and protested… something. Precisely what they were protesting is a bit vague, but then, the entirety of the ‘we want our country back’ idea is quite vague. Take it back from whom? Save it from what? And once you have it back, what precisely do you intend to do with it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let’s be realistic about a few things here. Firstly, the protest was not a grand affair, despite protestations that it was well-attended. Robinson – whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – and organisers of the protest claimed millions attended. The police estimate 60,000 people, which is fewer than a similar protest received last year. Leave it to the hard-right to exaggerate their numbers (we’ve seen similar tricks employed by Trump and the MAGA crowd). Secondly, in the wake of these protests, what exactly are these people trying to do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The focus on immigration is one of the greatest cons of all time. Are the gross imbalances in wealth caused by immigrants? No. Is the state of the UK’s water and energy sectors anything to do with immigrants? No. Are problems for the NHS caused by immigrants? No. Is British culture (whatever that<\/strong> is) under threat from immigrants? No. Despite these realities, the hard-right still makes out that immigration is the number one cause of Britain’s ills, and that we need to take our nation back from immigrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When was the last time anyone was stopped from practicing their cultural beliefs because of immigration? Does anyone care to drop me a comment demonstrating where and when they’ve been restricted from displaying British culture? For that matter, does anyone care to define British culture?<\/p>\n\n\n\n There’s a line from the rather brilliant Bear over at Bearly Politics<\/a> that sums up the hysteria displayed by the hard-right:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Britain is always on the brink. Civilisation is under attack. Being English is under threat. Free speech is in danger. The immigrants, brown people, LGBTQ+ people, Muslims, women – all of them are all at once coming for you. The country, according to this group of people, is constantly moments away from collapse because somewhere in Luton a halal chicken shop opened next to a Greggs and Darren from Kent has interpreted this as the beginning of national extinction.<\/p>https:\/\/www.bearlypolitics.co.uk\/p\/the-far-right-has-become-a-bit-sad<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n I think he puts it rather succiently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some people think that Britain is a Christian country, and frame some of these arguments along similar lines to the discussions and debates taking place in the USA (which is also not a Christian country, despite protests that say otherwise). This frames the immigration argument in a new and revealing light. It’s not immigration that’s the problem (despite the hard-right’s desperate desire to make us think it is), it’s the type<\/strong> of immigrant. If they have the ‘wrong’ beliefs, they are not welcome. If they have the ‘right’ beliefs, come on in. It doesn’t take too long before beliefs get conflated with race. Suddenly, it’s all about taking the country back from the people who not only don’t share the same beliefs, but also the ones who don’t look the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, in the next breath, Robinson and his crowd went and got a curry. That good old, traditional British curry, from India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It underscores how performative this all is. Right-wing rage is about empty gestures. They are furious about imagined problems and greatly over-stated issues. They’re obsessed with performative gestures like putting up flags on lamp posts. ‘We’re patriots! We love our country!’ Alright then, prove it, how about fighting for policies that get homeless veterans off the streets? ‘No no, we don’t mean that.’ How about working toward a fair, more equal society, and fighting against political and economic inequality? ‘Nah, we’d rather paint the St. George’s Cross on a roundabout mate.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n These people are grifters, and the worst part is, they are being thoroughly and easily manipulated. As The Bear puts it, they are pawns in someone else’s game, stuck making TikTok vids that feed someone else’s coffers, and making themselves look ridiculous in the process. ‘Take our country back!’ Indeed, we should, from the greedy corporate elite and the deceivers that aim to play us off against one another for their gain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n