Gary Younge discusses the ‘whitelash’ that fuelled another summer of riots in the UK and beyond
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t has been a second summer of riots in the UK targeting asylum seekers and immigration. And while there is something stomach-sinking about the mood and the rise in racist rhetoric, it is also worth remembering that we are in the middle of a global phenomenon, and that there is resistance. I spoke to Gary Younge, a professor of sociology at the University of Manchester and former Guardian columnist, about why this moment feels different to those before it.
An anti-immigrant mood is building across Britain, fuelled by the rightwing Reform UK party and longtime agitators such as Tommy Robinson, an ex-convict and far-right activist, and it is bleeding into racism that is experienced by many. Robinson posted a video on social media of a Black man playing with his white grandchildren, suggesting there was something sinister at hand, and unleashed a wave of hate against the man – who was subsequently suspended from his work after being falsely labelled a paedophile, and became too afraid to leave his house.
