The land of no soap & no glory: The far right, Liverpool and the economy
In distress. Gen 2025
“Get a wash, you hippy” shouts one of the pack of far right protesters who have gathered in Liverpool City Centre to oppose the temporary housing of migrants in a local hotel. I’m no stranger to being called names based on my looks. It seemed extra poignant today, the reduction of my character, personality & individuality to just the core of what I look like seemed fitting.
The far right has been on the rise for many years now and has probably never left this country since 1923 but with modern technology and a full roster of far right politicians, public figures and influencers it’s never been closer to our doorsteps, and in this case right on mine.
Progress not perfection. Gen 2025
Liverpool for me has always been a bastion of socialism, freedom of thought and critical thinking. In Liverpool we are very proud of the multicultural heritage we gained from being a port city and being open to others. Other cultures have enriched Liverpool, that melding of culture changed the wider world too. Where would we be without salt & pepper chips? The perfect fusion of what two cultures can create. We have the oldest Chinese community in Europe we also have the oldest black community in the uk, that’s something we are incredibly proud of but history shows that they weren’t as welcome when they first arrived,.
This is history repeating itself.
Liverpool despite its recent history and left leaning politics is not impervious to a transnational rise in the far right. Since the rise of the BNP in the early 2000s we have seen far right politics and Islamophobia become a lot more mainstream, accessible and acceptable. It has also become a lot more popular in politics to strategically lie to the nation as demonstrated by the Brexit campaign.
I remember the famous “breaking point” poster, which had very remarkable similarities to nazi propaganda, it was a deliberate attempt to stir up hatred, never mind that they were a group of Syrian refugees being escorted to a Slovenian refugee camp and the prominent white police officer in the photo was covered by a text box. This image had been hijacked to sear fear into the minds of U.K households and it worked.
2016 Nigel Farage '“Breaking Point” poster
Another lie told is that Brexit would mean we could close the borders and take back control, how many times did we hear that? Brexit has actually done the opposite as we had no migratory deal set up with the EU making it harder and slower for the UK to return migrants to Europe. The sweet irony. The UK is obligated by the UN to provide shelter and housing for migrants whilst their applications are either approved or denied. Hotels have been used as emergency accommodation, this isn’t a long term solution but with the government failing to invest in social housing it’s necessary.
It’s also not a great deal for migrants as hotels are not designed for long term stays and has a negative effect on mental health and integration into society. Made even harder with crowds outside your windows telling you to go home. It is however a great deal for Britannia Hotels who are ranked the worst hotel chain in the UK, can you imagine staying a year in the Britannia owned Adelphi?
Gen 2025
An argument for the far right is the amount of tax payers money going to pay for these hotels, whilst the bill is high lets consider a great example of tax payers money being wasted right here in Liverpool.
A PFI (private finance initiative) built secondary school which has been closed since 2014. Built in 2002 it was closed due not having enough students in the catchment area, 176 students at the time of closing. We pay 4.3 million pounds a year and will pay that till 2028. Since built this school only open for 12 years will have cost us just under 110 million. This makes this the most expensive school in history and it educates no one.
If these protests were really was about the money being wasted they would be shouting at an empty school in Speke. They would also be in uproar over the new PFI Royal hospital costing a whopping 1 billion as opposed to the £624 million it would have cost through normal public spending. Let’s not mention the poor build quality and illegal cladding which was due to cutting costs for private monetary gain rather than public safety. This is our main hospital, it will look after your family in times of need but private greed has cut corners to maximise profit. Profit in pain is the worst type of greed, yet still no major protest. These are just two examples from Liverpool, nationally the scale of money wasted by PFI contracts is astronomical.
Though the bill for 400 migrants staying one year in a four star Canary Wharf hotel will cost 11.8 million and that’s in London! If they stay a full year.
What’s the Matar? Gen 2025
The growing costs of food, rent and housing is also a contributing factor. It is being weaponised by the far right, there is a perceived notion that we should look after “our own” before helping others. I’ve always felt we could just help everyone in need, collecting owed taxes from massive tech giants and other companies who profit massively from the UK but who use tax havens in British overseas territories. We could claw back 274 billion pounds just from these tax havens. This is money stolen that increases inequality for us all. This money could go to help heat homes in winter, build social housing for migrants and the homeless, improve local services and help the nhs. It is hard to tell a loophole to “go home” though.
The right leaning media have also been fanning the flames seemingly excited about the prospect of more trouble 12 months on since the uk riots;
“Britain currently feels like a tinderbox that’s set to explode”
“Ordinary families are fed-up and fearful, they are striking a match on a tinderbox”
“ … a beacon of hope in a deeply divided country which suddenly feels like a tinderbox once again - is one we need more badly than ever, isn’t it?”
I think it’s easy to see how rhetoric like this may lead to people wanting to take action for what they see as ‘breaking point’.
We have money but it is placed into private pockets and not into the hands of the people or the communities that need it most. These protests need to be taking place outside the Houses of Parliament, the anger should not be at the people seeking a better life but at the systems and policies that affect us all. The members of parliament who have lied to feather their own pockets, the huge corporations evading tax and the media for pushing Islamophobia and far right ideals for sensational headlines rather than holding those in power accountable. These are the real enemies of our nation.
Britain First. Gen 2025
9th August, Hatton Gardens, Liverpool.
There was a lot of chants for Tommy Robinson the anti Islam campaigner and far right activist, who not only is the son of an Irish immigrant but has also entered into America as an illegal using false documentation to travel there. The sweet irony again. He’s also been arrested for a string of assaults, he’s a lovely bloke. So when you say “I’m not racist but..” yes It’s not inherently racist to want better controls of the borders but to stand and associate yourself with crowds that sing his name and shout for people “to go home” it does make you look like one.
This also goes for calling every migrant a sex offender just think about that for longer than a second and hopefully you’ll realise how stupid it sounds. It could work as a Stewart Lee joke “so you’re saying Every migrant is a sex offender? Every one? Every migrant?” statistically this would be impossible. The uk government does not present crime by nationality or ethnicity nor does it have a long term data set so any proof would be purely anecdotal but Every one? Seriously?
If you think you’re protecting children from the dangers of migrants vilified by right wing politicians and media you’re really not, if anything you’re actually denying your child to have an open world view and that cultures working together producing amazing things, please refer to salt and pepper chips.
Who will save the children? Gen 2025
Being at the protest seemed so polarising. In recent weeks we have seen the police clamping down on “terrorists” who are those peacefully protesting the genocide in Palestine. Arresting hundreds of people including a 74 year old woman in Liverpool and another man who showed a cartoon from Private Eye magazine. These examples seem to only make you question what’s an acceptable way to protest. How certain freedom of speech is an act of terrorism and another that insights hatred towards a group of people is deemed as acceptable.
An official report, published in 2019, highlighted that the UK had the highest number of far-right terrorist attacks and plots in Europe. The far right are greater threat to national security and all marginalised groups. Though they are so radicalised they believe they are the saviours of our nation. Recently at a rally I attended for LGBT+ groups was targeted by the far right, it was disheartening to witness. Their vision of saving the UK and bringing back core British values is predicated on a lie that has only existed in their minds and maybe on a chocolate box for white chocolate. It’s a pipe dream doomed to fail.
I feel obligated to say there was no violence or arrests from either side that I saw on Saturday.
The page of Private Eye that got Jon Farley arrested under the terrorism act.
I showed my support for those trapped by circumstance in a hotel they did not choose to stay in. I captured photos of both sides the left and the right, I was between the two lines of police documenting this part of modern history. I wanted to capture the essence and truth of the story, the anger felt by both sides. The misplaced belief of the far right and the power of a Liverpool standing up against racism and for what is right, to accept a new culture and build a new chapter in our rich history of people and culture.
So “get a wash you hippy” I will, don’t worry i’ve got soap but my conscious will always be clean knowing that I’m standing up for fellow humans and trying to make the world a kinder more accepting place to live and who knows maybe we will get something even better than salt and pepper chips… like stolen taxes.
