Weekly Blog - 5 November 2025 - Stopping the Drift to the Far Right
As British public life seems to be drifting disturbingly towards the far right, we ask what is happening, why is it happening and what can be done about it.
What is happening?
In recent weeks and months, British public life seems to have been drifting disturbingly towards the far right. Anti-immigration protests began in mid-July after an Ethiopian asylum seeker staying at the Bell Hotel in Epping sexually assaulted a teenage girl. That incident triggered protests that spread rapidly across the country. More than 122 protests involving thousands have occurred to date across dozens of towns and cities including London, Leeds, Norwich, Portsmouth, and Bolton. The protests are not always peaceful. Insults, racial slurs, threats, abusive chants and even outright violence have been reported consistently by counter-protesters and police. Far-right organisers have been deeply involved in many protests amplifying the rhetoric beyond local concerns. Beyond just protest, some hotels are being directly threatened or targeted. Charities have warned that anti-migrant activists are beginning to share suspect HMO (house in multiple occupation) addresses of asylum housing, exposing vulnerable residents and landlords.
Pressure was further significantly increased on 13 September when the Unite the Kingdom rally, led by far-right activist Tommy Robinson, took place in London. Some reports claimed attendance of over 200,000 people, making it arguably one of the largest far-right protests in British history. The rally sought to fuse nationalist symbolism, anti-immigration energy, and Christian imagery (robes, crosses, banners) in an attempt to ‘claim the cross’ and appeal to broad constituencies. The rally also demonstrated how disparate local grievances are being sewn into national narratives — attempting to show unity for a far-right agenda, which may well not survive closer scrutiny of the many disparate reasons why people attended, and what they thought they were standing for and representing.
Another striking phenomenon has been Operation Raise the Colours, a campaign to affix Union Flags and St George’s Crosses across lampposts, roundabouts and roadsides. While the use of national flags is not inherently extremist, the timing and pattern have alarmed observers. Far right activists were involved in instigating the campaign, which emerged concurrently with the asylum protests and has been critiqued as a cultural assertion of identity and exclusion.
In the political sphere this trend can be seen unmistakably in the meteoric rise of the right-wing popularist party Reform UK. Repeated polls currently put them far ahead of all other UK political parties. Reform UK has sought to position itself as a main opposition voice, capitalising on anti-immigrant sentiment, public discontent, and distrust in mainstream politics. While it only has a small number of MPs (five in the Commons) and relatively modest local power, its influence and momentum far exceeds that. This sense of momentum has been aided by a growing number of defections of senior figures from the Conservative Party such as Nadine Dorries and Danny Kruger. Still within the Conservative fold, but pushing the party further and further to the right is Robert Jenrick (a former Conservative minister), who has occasionally appeared at or around asylum sites and protests and publicly put up flags himself, all to signal a tough line. Such gestures are of course amplified in social media, reinforcing a narrative that politicians are siding with hardline voices.
This drift to the far right is not unique to the UK. Across Europe, the US and the wider Western world, far-right populism has been gaining ground — often riding on migration, inflation, inequality, and cultural backlash. For minority communities the current moment is one of heightened anxiety. Reports of increased hate crime, threats, vandalism, and the pressure put on refugee NGOs and legal services reflect a chilling environment. For instance, more than 150 legal practices, refugee NGOs, and human rights organisations have publicly said they are being “pressured into silence” by far-right protesters, with some receiving rape and death threats. Two refugee NGOs have reportedly shut offices after credible threats.
Why is this happening?
Understanding the rise of the far right requires seeing both the legitimate grievances people hold and how those grievances are being manipulated, diverted, and amplified. Many ordinary white working-class people across many nations feel deeply neglected. In regions facing deindustrialisation, factory closures, downturns in major employers, and weak local investment, communities feel forgotten. Jobs available are often low paid, insecure, or part-time, making it harder for families to pay rents, mortgages, or heating bills. Inequality has widened, and social mobility feels stalled. Public services spiral downward: school budgets are stretched, mental health services overstretched, GP waiting lists long, and social care underfunded. Many feel the state is failing the average citizen. Law and order — or at least perceptions of it — are fraying. News of local crime, antisocial behaviour, gangs, and pressure on policing make many feel unsafe in their own neighbourhoods. Taxes are high, and many feel they receive little return on those taxes — either in local infrastructure, healthcare, or social investment. Adding to this is a sense of being ignored by remote, distant elites or political classes who are perceived as corrupt, disconnected, or more responsive to global capital or metropolitan interests than to ordinary people in “left behind” places. Those frustrations are entirely legitimate — they must be taken seriously. But the danger is when those frustrations are hijacked, redirected, and given scapegoats.
Migration is a visible and emotionally charged issue. There are entirely legitimate and important debates about the scale, speed and nature of immigration, that all societies must have. There are legitimate arguments for and against different positions. But far-right agitators often present migration as the source of all ills: housing shortages, pressure on public services, crime, cultural dilution, job displacement. In this narrative, complex systemic causes (like underinvestment in infrastructure, rising inequality, weak planning, austerity, global economic pressures) vanish, and all blame is shifted to migrants. The result: resentment is funnelled into suspicion, hostility, even hate. The digital age makes it easier than ever to spread disinformation, conspiracy, and emotional messaging. Platforms provide viral reach, echo chambers, and selective amplification of emotive content. Online extremists and far-right money further stoke the flames. Donations, cross-border alliances, and funding pipelines help sustain local activism. Meanwhile, supportive media — especially right-leaning press — amplify the narrative by running alarmist headlines, giving disproportionate weight to migrant crimes.
Migration, especially irregular migration, does presents real challenges. The UK has seen tens of thousands cross the Channel in 2025; hotels have been used to house asylum seekers (costly and controversial). The government itself recognises the pressure — the 2025 Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill expands powers against organised immigration crime, seeks faster removals, and new offences for smuggling and irregular entry. And of course inward legal migration is on a much larger scale. The speed and scale of migration and the success or not of integration are legitimate policy debates. And they are faced not just by the UK, but by every nation in the twenty-first century, often on far larger scales than anything in the UK. So the issue is not whether migration can be addressed — but how it is addressed: whether justly, transparently, with human dignity, with compassion and working together internationally or through fear, blame, and exclusion.
What can be done to stop it?
From a Christian perspective, we must not respond with fear or silence. The Gospel calls us to justice, truth, love, and courage. But we must also act wisely. Jesus tells us to “Love your neighbour as yourself” (Mark 12:31). We are called to show care, protection, hospitality, justice to all our neighbours, both close to home, and our global neighbours too. When national identity becomes an idol, the Bible reminds us that loyalty to God transcends tribal or ethnic identity. For the Psalms warn us we should “not trust in an idol or swear by a false god” (Psalm 24: 4), and Paul says “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3: 28). We must resist any appropriation of Christian symbols for exclusion, national purity, or ethnic supremacy. We must not allow the hard right to claim the cross. A travesty of everything that Jesus’ death on the cross and his resurrection means. Finally, we should not duck or hide away from difficult challenges, but in love speak truth to power as Isaiah tells us, “Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause” (Isaiah 1:17).
Drawing from these Biblical principles the Arise Manifesto (our Biblical vision for a better world) offers multiple policy proposals that would help to halt and reverse the rise of the far right. Firstly, steps should be taken to address people’s legitimate concerns about the relative poverty and stagnation they see in their work lives, communities and public services. These should include investment in economic renewal, jobs and infrastructure to reduce inequality. They should also include the reform of taxation services to be more progressive, and tax wealth, environmental destruction and other social bads more, and correspondingly tax ordinary people less. Police and public services should be funded properly (and reformed where necessary) so communities feel safer with a functioning social safety net. Local services, mental health, housing, and community infrastructure should all be prioritised more highly. (Arise has previously given many of examples of ways this can be done without costing large sums of extra public money.)
Beyond these steps, illegal migration should be tackled firmly but fairly, with those arriving outside legal pathways processed and deported swiftly, to deter dangerous crossings, and the ruthless cross channel gangs prosecuted and shut down. However, at the same time legal safe routes should be established with those at risk able to apply for asylum through embassies and online. Thus instead of punishing people who arrive improperly, direct, legal pathways to apply are provided, so applications can be made in a safe and manageable way. This reduces pressure on irregular routes.
Alongside this, existing laws on incitement to racial violence or hatred, must be applied much more vigorously. Similarly slander and deliberate misinformation must also be stepped on and prosecuted much harder. This should apply equally whether it occurs offline or online. This should be addressed more structurally too. Social media platforms must be forced to take responsibility for extremist content, misinformation, and coordinated harassment. There should also be legislation requiring transparency about algorithms, ad targeting, and funding origins. Penalties and takedown orders should be applied for content inciting violence or systematic abuse, taking major steps towards cleaning up toxicity on social media. Steps should also be taken to limit foreign money and influence in UK politics. This should include mandating full disclosure of foreign donations to political causes, NGOs, and campaign groups, and a ban on funding from states or organisations linked to extremist ideologies. Stricter caps should be set on campaign financing and greater transparency of donors.
In contrast genuine free speech of different ideas and views (that may even be offensive to some) should be protected, as long as they don’t directly incite violence. This should include the promotion of a positive narrative on human rights, free speech and tolerance. National educational campaigns stressing tolerance, bridge-building, forgiveness, hospitality, and dignity should be launched. And local intercultural dialogues, and intercommunity activities promoted.
Conclusion
The rise of the far right in the UK is not an isolated outbreak — it is a symptom of deeper disquiet in society, within the UK, across the Western world and beyond. Its strength comes from unaddressed injustices, fear, and the manipulation of identity. Christians cannot remain silent. We must respond with love, truth, justice, and political engagement — calling on the powers of state, technology, narrative, and community to restrain the advance of exclusion.
Find out more
Arise Manifesto – Find out more about how toleration, justice and community cohesion can be strengthened in the Arise Manifesto, Arise’s big picture, researched, Biblical, holistic and practical vision for a better world.
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