Stop the Far Right, Waltham Forest Immigration Bureau, London, UK at 8pm on 7th August 2024

Field Recordings

“Hundreds of people gather in solidarity at one of the locations threatened by far right violence last night, as anti-racist groups across the UK respond to a list encouraging attacks on immigration centres.

This followed a week of domestic terrorism from far right groups, fuelled by a poisonous political and media discourse in this country, which had seen violent attacks on communities – rioters storming hotels housing asylum seekers, targeting mosques, burning a library, hurling bricks and fireworks.

On the morning of the 8th August, BBC Radio 4’s Today programme still chose to euphemistically refer to these far right rioters as, “anti-immigration protesters” in their news bulletin, with BBC News previously talking about one far right gathering as a “pro-British march”, newspapers like the Daily Mail and the Express praised the “anti-hate marchers” who had “faced down the thugs” on the 8th despite printing years of dehumanising, racist and Islamophobic headlines which had consciously laid the groundwork for the hatred and violence of the past few days and many of the MPs who had spent years pouring bile into this poisonous, racist discourse – across political divides – decried the violence, without acknowledging how the public scapegoating of refugees and immigrants had lit these fires.

This Saturday 10th August there’s a national day of protest in England – find your local demonstration here: https://standuptoracism.org.uk“