Across Britain, the rise of anti-immigration protests, the surge in far-right rhetoric online, and growing public support for exclusionary policies point to an alarming shift in perspective.
Anti-immigration protests have grown louder, fuelled by far-right rhetoric both in public and online. In September 2025; over 100,000 people joined an anti-migrant protest in London while there has been almost as much anti-migrant online discourse in the first 6 months of 2025 as the whole of 2024. These attitudes have also translated into growing political support for far-right parties, with an IPSOS poll showing Reform UK reached 34 per cent support in June, its highest level on record, above both Labour (25 per cent) and the Conservatives (15 per cent).
This shift in attitude hasn’t come out of nowhere. It stems from the deep frustration of people grappling with a relentless cost-of-living crisis and years of declining quality of life, leaving many feeling disillusioned, unheard, and neglected. Yet, rather than addressing the structural causes of this decline; influential figures in politics, media, and online platforms have deliberately exploited public anger, shifting blame onto migrants as an easy scapegoat. This tactic of division not only distracts from the real drivers of public struggle, but also shields those in power from accountability, while minority communities must deal with rising resentment, hostility, and violence. The pressing question, then, is clear: what are the true causes of Britain’s struggles, and how can we build a solution for a fairer, more united future?
What follows is a shortened version of an article I wrote after the Southport riots in 2024. Since then, anti-migrant sentiment has only intensified, but the analysis of the underlying issues fuelling division and proposed solutions for change remain as relevant and vital as ever.
Britain’s broken promises
To understand why scapegoating immigrants has found an audience, we have to look at the wider context of decline. Many people remember when the NHS was ranked the best in the world, when rivers were cleaner, and when poverty was slowly receding. That sense of steady improvement has been replaced by a deep feeling of national stagnation.
For 14 years, austerity, Brexit, and the mishandling of COVID eroded living standards. Public services buckled, wages stagnated, and housing grew increasingly unaffordable. Millions were left feeling that the country they once trusted to provide stability no longer works for them.
Some direct their frustration towards the policies and governments responsible. But many others have been steered towards an easier, more emotional target: immigration.
Scapegoating as strategy
For over a decade, sections of the media have hammered home the same narrative: life is getting harder because of immigrants. Tabloids like the Daily Mail ran headline after headline framing migrants as criminals, cheats, or threats to “British culture.” Politicians reinforced the message. Nigel Farage’s UKIP and later Reform made hostility to refugees central to their brand. Even within the Conservative Party, senior figures like Suella Braverman used inflammatory language, such as ‘invasion’ and framing migration as an ‘existential threat’, that edged into incitement.
It went right to the top. Rishi Sunak campaigned under the slogan “Stop the Boats,” echoing the rallying cry of the far-right mobs. Former Attorney General Dominic Grieve warned that this rhetoric was fanning the flames of extremism rather than extinguishing them.
Social media significantly exacerbated the problem. Elon Musk, with his huge global platform, amplified rioters’ talking points, suggesting “civil war is inevitable” and ridiculing Britain’s new Prime Minister as “#TwoTierKeir.” Russian bots and disinformation networks, active since the Brexit referendum, continue to exploit divides around immigration and national identity.
The result is a toxic information environment in which a small minority genuinely believe their struggles are caused not by political choices but by their neighbours who happen not to be white.
The puppet-masters stay home
What makes this situation more galling is that those most responsible rarely face consequences. While ordinary rioters are caught on CCTV, arrested, and handed prison sentences, the agitators remain untouched. Farage was in Hong Kong while the violence played out last summer. The Daily Mail’s owner watched from France. Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (better known as Tommy Robinson) was posting online from abroad.
Ordinary people pay the price – in criminal records, prison time, and damaged communities, while the divisors of hate enjoy comfort and immunity.
Four steps towards a cure
So what’s the solution? The way forward requires more than policing riots. It needs a long-term strategy on four fronts:
Restore safety and solidarity. Immediate security is essential: the swift police response and the scale of anti-racist counter-demonstrations showed that the public rejects intimidation and values unity. But sustaining this solidarity means ensuring communities feel consistently protected, not only in moments of crisis.
Hold the puppet-masters accountable. Britain urgently needs a healthier media ecosystem. Instead of shielding the powerful or punishing investigative journalists, press freedom must mean holding elites to account. Yet the reality is SLAPP lawsuits, suspensions, and corporate influence still muzzle those who try. Without reform, disinformation will continue to shape public anger.
Fix the underlying social crises. Unless living standards, housing, and public services improve, frustration will remain fertile ground for far-right exploitation. The far right thrives in the cracks left by inequality, austerity, and neglect, meaning economic repair is inseparable from counter-extremism.
De-radicalise and build resilience. Changing minds is slow, but not impossible. Finland’s integration of media literacy and critical thinking into schools made its citizens Europe’s most resilient to disinformation. Britain must follow suit: equipping people to see through manipulation before it takes root.
Labour’s big test
Labour’s 2024 general election victory dealt a setback to the far right, but that win alone will not neutralise the forces driving extremism. In 2025, the continued rise of Reform UK in opinion polls shows that scapegoating and fear-mongering politics remain potent. Labour cannot afford to tread cautiously: if it sticks with the risk-averse ‘small target’ strategy that secured power, the conditions that fuel extremism – poverty, stagnation, failing public services will persist.
Instead, Labour must act boldly: rebuild institutions, repair the NHS, and deliver visible progress on the cost-of-living crisis. If they fail, Britain risks years of deepening instability in which extremism and division could flourish, exploited by those in power while the quality of life of ordinary individuals plummets. But, if they succeed, they could lay the foundations for a fairer, more united Britain in which prosperity is shared, public trust is restored, and every community feels valued and heard.
