The Conservative Party has been accused of trying to “generate fear and anger” amongst the general public in a bid to cling to energy.
Anti-extremism marketing campaign group Hope Not Hate raised issues in regards to the rhetoric being utilized by politicians about immigration. A ballot of Conservative Party members discovered 45% had a adverse view of immigrants and 40% Muslims.
In its annual State of Hate report, the group stated: “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.”
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Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman was criticised by Hope Not Hate for having “considerably 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”.
And commenting on claims she made to justify the urgency of the Rwanda plan, it said: “In phrases intentionally designed to generate concern and anger, Braverman claimed, with no factual foundation, that 100 million folks around the globe qualify for asylum within the UK, ‘and let’s be clear: They are coming right 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”.
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“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 stated. “Even when confronted by journalists about these ludicrous lies, the Conservative Party and its ministers continued to peddle them.”
The report stated the general public has “deteriorating attitudes to democracy and the political system” and was scathing in regards to the rise of radical rightwing factions throughout the Tory get together. It warned a couple of rising “radical right ecosystem”, which was additionally being fuelled by the “toxification” of X/Twitter beneath 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 on the flip of the 12 months discovered that Nigel Farage’s look on I’m A Celebrity had boosted his standing amongst younger folks. Some 24% of 18 to 24-year-olds stated they’d a optimistic view of him, in comparison with simply 12% final 12 months.
The report stated the previous UKIP chief’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 requested in the event that they supported or opposed Mr Farage becoming a member of the Conservative Party, 55% of Tory members stated they’d be comfortable if he joined and solely 23% opposed.
The report stated that whether or not Mr Farage returns to frontline politics, both for Reform UK or the Tories, or stays as a media commentator, he “will have a major impact on British politics” and stays the “joker in the pack”. More typically, Hope Not Hate’s ballot confirmed the nation is determined to go to the polls, with 64% of the general public desirous to see a change in authorities.
Researchers famous {that a} file variety of far-right activists and sympathisers had been convicted of terror-related offences in 2023. Hope Not Hate additionally discovered that anti-migrant exercise rose by 20% in comparison with 2022, itself the very best 12 months on file.
Meanwhile incidents of anti-Muslim hare have greater than trebled since Hamas’ assault on October 7, in line with Islamophobia monitoring group Tell Mama. According to its most up-to-date figures printed at present, 2,247 instances had been reported as much as March 7 in comparison with 721 throughout the identical interval final 12 months. Incidents reported embrace harassment, abuse and dying threats in the direction of Muslims in public areas, together with a lady’s automotive being vandalised with a swastika or folks being known as “terrorists” on the streets.
Nick Lowles of Hope Not Hate stated: “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.”
Brendan Cox, co-founder of the Together Coalition that’s serving to to organise the interfaith Iftar stated: “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 because of announce an up to date definition of extremism within the Commons on Thursday.