'Radical right' surge amid Tory chaos, Farage on I'm a Celeb and 'toxic' Twitter
The Conservative Party has been accused of attempting to “generate fear and anger” amongst the public in a bid to cling to power.
Anti-extremism campaign group Hope Not Hate raised concerns about the rhetoric being used by politicians about immigration. A poll of Conservative Party members found 45% had a negative view of immigrants and 40% Muslims.
In its annual State of Hate report, the group said: “However unpleasant the Conservatives might have been on immigration [in the past], there was generally a difference between them and the more extreme far right. “Sadly, that already blurred line has become ever fainter and the distinction less clear.”
It added: “There is a conscious strategy to adopt Radical Right and conspiratorial language to generate fear and anger amongst sections of British society in order to win electoral support.”
It took aim at former PM Liz Truss for railing against 'left-wing extremists' whom she claims have taken over Britain's institutions (Getty Images)Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman was criticised by Hope Not Hate for having “significantly ramped up" tensions ahead of a pro-Palestine march, which she referred to as a “hate march”, on Armistice Day in November. The group has previously hit out at Ms Braverman’s “inflammatory speech”, which claimed a “hurricane” of mass migration was coming to the UK, at the Tory Party conference, a gathering it described as being “dominated by a 'war on woke' agenda”.
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And commenting on claims she made to justify the urgency of the Rwanda plan, it said: "In words deliberately designed to generate fear and anger, Braverman claimed, with no factual basis, that 100 million people around the world qualify for asylum in the UK, 'and let’s be clear: They are coming here.'" Some 80% of Tory members think the UK should be prepared to overrule human rights legislation to ensure asylum seekers are sent to Rwanda, according to its poll of more than 500 Tory members.
Its report also took aim at former PM Liz Truss for railing against “left-wing extremists”, whom she claims have taken over Britain’s institutions. It even lambasted Rishi Sunak himself for having “made repeated forays into the world of culture wars”.
Nigel Farage’s appearance on I’m A Celebrity boosted his standing amongst young people, a poll found (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)“Rishi Sunak deliberately and quite consciously lied about the views of the Labour Party, accusing them of wanting to tax meat and force households to have seven bins,” it said. “Even when confronted by journalists about these ludicrous lies, the Conservative Party and its ministers continued to peddle them.”
The report said the public has “deteriorating attitudes to democracy and the political system” and was scathing about the rise of radical rightwing factions within the Tory party. It warned about a growing “radical right ecosystem”, which was also being fuelled by the “toxification” of X/Twitter under Elon Musk and united by “culture wars” and an “opposition to ‘woke’ politics”.
A survey of 25,000 commissioned by Hope Not Hate and carried out by Focaldata at the turn of the year found that Nigel Farage’s appearance on I’m A Celebrity had boosted his standing amongst young people. Some 24% of 18 to 24-year-olds said they had a positive view of him, compared to just 12% last year.
The report said the former UKIP leader’s profile had already been lifted by “a successful 2.5 years hosting a primetime show on GB News”, a channel which it described as “a toxic and chaotic presence in the British media… which disseminates baseless conspiracy theories and divisive commentary”. When asked if they supported or opposed Mr Farage joining the Conservative Party, 55% of Tory members said they would be happy if he joined and only 23% opposed.
The report said that whether Mr Farage returns to frontline politics, either for Reform UK or the Tories, or remains as a media commentator, he “will have a major impact on British politics” and remains the “joker in the pack”. More generally, Hope Not Hate’s poll showed the country is desperate to go to the polls, with 64% of the public wanting to see a change in government.
Researchers noted that a record number of far-right activists and sympathisers were convicted of terror-related offences in 2023. Hope Not Hate also found that anti-migrant activity rose by 20% compared to 2022, itself the highest year on record.
Meanwhile incidents of anti-Muslim hare have more than trebled since Hamas’ attack on October 7, according to Islamophobia monitoring group Tell Mama. According to its most recent figures published today, 2,247 cases were reported up to March 7 compared to 721 during the same period last year. Incidents reported include harassment, abuse and death threats towards Muslims in public spaces, including a woman’s car being vandalised with a swastika or people being called “terrorists” on the streets.
Nick Lowles of Hope Not Hate said: “There is a deep sense of decline felt by the British public. Whilst this means that there is a strong appetite for a change of Government, any new administration that fails to deliver meaningful change could open the door to an ascendent Radical Right.”
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Brendan Cox, co-founder of the Together Coalition that is helping to organise the interfaith Iftar said: “Extremism is high on the political agenda and rightly so. Today’s statistics show that for Muslim communities things are getting worse not better. Government needs to take this much more seriously and lead by example in showing zero tolerance to hatred in any form.“
Iman Atta Director of Tell Mama said: “The fact that anti-Muslim attacks are still accelerating should make us all worry and encourage politicians to lead by example in tackling prejudice and hatred in all its forms.”
Michael Gove is due to announce an updated definition of extremism in the Commons on Thursday.
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