Let's take a brief pause from the Westminster soap opera to check in with the ethnic minorities and immigrants in England who just watched their neighborhoods turn a very specific shade of turquoise in May's local elections. Because apparently, that color comes with a side of 'you're lesser humans' and a threat to the social fabric. Fun times.
A newly elected Reform councillor allegedly mused, 'Carnt [sic] believe amount of nigerians in town … should melt them all down and fill in the pot holes.' When challenged, Reform's deputy leader Richard Tice waved it off as the usual 'smearing and sneering.' Meanwhile, another candidate tweeted that Muslims 'never coexist with others' and should be deported, and that Africans have IQs 'among the lowest in the world.' Yet another suggested the 'only solution' was to 'remove the Muslims from our territory' and called Ashkenazi Jews a 'problem' who 'caused the world massive misery.'
And Nigel Farage? Where to begin? Allegedly sang Hitler Youth songs as a joke, allegedly was a racist bully at school, admires Enoch Powell, believes some Muslims are here 'to take us over,' gets twitchy when people speak other languages on public transport, and has blamed traffic congestion on immigration. But hey, it's all just background noise, right? Just part of the general political slop since Brexit. 'Take Back Control,' 'Stop the Boats,' 'Secure Our Borders.' Claims about being embarrassed by our culture because something wasn't sung at the Last Night of the Proms. Rows over university syllabuses that threw BAME students under the bus. Nonsense about flags we're not proud enough of.
Reform's policies and talking points have become almost indistinguishable from the culture war and anti-immigration hysteria that now passes for mainstream political culture. You could play 'who said it' with Tory, Reform, and Labour and be totally stumped. Heck, throw Tommy Robinson in there - he held his second 'unite the kingdom' rally in London at the weekend, calling for 'national unity, free speech and Christian values.'
But words have consequences. They shape the beliefs of people who, no mistake, have turned against their neighbours and voted Reform. Ethnic minorities know that Reform's election holds no promise - things won't get better, only worse. There's nothing at the core of Reform's political project other than identity politics. No local economic agenda, no grand vision for supporting people in a cost of living crisis.
Reform has promised to cut spending, reject housing asylum seekers in their areas, and end diversity roles in local government. They'll be as hampered by central government policy as anyone else, but they'll succeed in spreading further fear, suspicion, and division. They'll turn national concerns about immigration into local concerns about how ethnic minorities exist in communities.
Black and brown neighbours will now be under suspicion, possibly down to the languages they speak - Farage has called the number of students speaking English as a second language in Glasgow tantamount to 'cultural smashing.' On cultural practices and public appearance, he's said West Indian immigrants integrated better because they had a 'shared history, shared culture and shared religion' with the UK. And on freedom of religion, he's called for a ban on Muslim public prayer, calling a Ramadan event in London 'an open, deliberate, wilful attempt, not at the private observance of a different religion, but the attempt to overtake, intimidate and dominate our way of life.'
Who's exempt from this suspicion? How long do you have to live somewhere to call it home? The Black man whose family has been here for generations, the woman in a hijab seeking asylum, the brown child born in the UK who speaks another language with friends and family - all cast as cultural smashers and forever outsiders unless they can strip their skin and self-police their dress, speech, and culture.
There's been a failure to grapple with the gravity of what's happening. The anti-migrant right has been given too much space and time by media and politicians to establish itself as mainstream. So-called 'legitimate concerns' about immigration have become covers for prejudice. Mentioning the racism that fundamentally defines this metastasising politics is 'woke.' Reform insists it's about immigration - and no smears or sneers will stop them.
So back to Westminster. The real threat isn't pretenders to Keir Starmer's leadership. It's a Reform party edging toward parliamentary seats at the next election. What's at stake aren't political careers, but the safety and dignity of ethnic minorities in the UK - and the relegation of neighbours to second-class citizens.