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History teaches us clearly that we can't afford to appease, or give fascism the benefit of the doubt
David Lammy: Why I don’t regret calling out the far-right on Andrew Marr
Extreme right parties are polling at 10 per cent in Spain, 20 per cent in France, and – if you combine UKIP and the Brexit Party – 25 per cent in the UK. In Hungary, Poland, Italy and the United States, the populist right already have the keys to power.
These movements are not calling for genocide, the imprisonment of their political enemies, or expansion into foreign territory. However, they are demanding politicians obey a vague, undefinable “will of the people”. They are creating the false narrative of a betrayal by foreign “elites” (cue Brussels bureaucrats). At home, they are scapegoating and demonising migrants (think of Nigel Farage’s “Breaking Point” poster), while harking bark to a deeply nostalgic vision of ethnically hierarchical past, with calls for “Empire 2.0”. They are attacking the truth, while denying the authority of experts and intellectuals (“people in this country have had enough of experts,” in the words of Michael Gove). They are using the demagogic tactic of repeating lies so often that people believe they are – or at least could be – true (“No deal is better than a bad deal”). At their worst they even threaten violence and unrest (“I will be forced don khaki, pick up a rifle and head for the front lines,” Nigel Farage).
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The same parallels are being drawn in the United States too, where Democratic Presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke made the point that Donald Trump’s decision to describe immigrants as “animals, not people” and an “infestation” is more appropriate language for a leader in the “Third Reich.”
These shocking analogies are necessary to draw because of the deadly seriousness of the extremes this new right encourages and legitimates. Ethnic minorities and immigrants are always the first to feel the consequences of the extreme right. If you are a minority in Britain, you are feeling vulnerable in a way that you did not a decade ago. The number of hate crimes directed at people because of their religious beliefs rose by 40 per cent between 2017 and 2018.
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We all have a duty to call out, de-legitimise and debunk everyone who makes links with, or provides cover for, the extreme right.
These movements are not calling for genocide, the imprisonment of their political enemies, or expansion into foreign territory. However, they are demanding politicians obey a vague, undefinable “will of the people”. They are creating the false narrative of a betrayal by foreign “elites” (cue Brussels bureaucrats). At home, they are scapegoating and demonising migrants (think of Nigel Farage’s “Breaking Point” poster), while harking bark to a deeply nostalgic vision of ethnically hierarchical past, with calls for “Empire 2.0”. They are attacking the truth, while denying the authority of experts and intellectuals (“people in this country have had enough of experts,” in the words of Michael Gove). They are using the demagogic tactic of repeating lies so often that people believe they are – or at least could be – true (“No deal is better than a bad deal”). At their worst they even threaten violence and unrest (“I will be forced don khaki, pick up a rifle and head for the front lines,” Nigel Farage).
-------------------
The same parallels are being drawn in the United States too, where Democratic Presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke made the point that Donald Trump’s decision to describe immigrants as “animals, not people” and an “infestation” is more appropriate language for a leader in the “Third Reich.”
These shocking analogies are necessary to draw because of the deadly seriousness of the extremes this new right encourages and legitimates. Ethnic minorities and immigrants are always the first to feel the consequences of the extreme right. If you are a minority in Britain, you are feeling vulnerable in a way that you did not a decade ago. The number of hate crimes directed at people because of their religious beliefs rose by 40 per cent between 2017 and 2018.
--------------------
We all have a duty to call out, de-legitimise and debunk everyone who makes links with, or provides cover for, the extreme right.
[link:https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2019/04/david-lammy-why-i-don-t-regret-calling-out-far-right-andrew-marr|
David Lammy - saying it as it is....
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