‘Appoint Minister of Cohesion to stem the tide of racism’ says leading anti-fascist

Martin Shipton

Andy Burnham should appoint a Minister for Cohesion with the remit to roll back the rise in racism, according to the head of Britain’s leading anti-fascist group.

Nick Lowles, chief executive of Hope Not Hate, has set out a number of proposals to the new Prime Minister that he believes would counter the attempts by far-right parties to create division and hostility.

In a circular to his group’s supporters, Lowles states: “Our communities are fragmented and divided, and many are marked by a feeling of despair and pessimism. Community cohesion is at its lowest ebb for decades. The reasons are manifold, but years of under-investment, austerity and a lack of political will have led to a gradual erosion of community spirit and positive engagement.

“Despair opens the door to the far-right. This process is already well underway as we saw in the summer of 2024 and the recent riots. The government’s broad agenda will inevitably fail if this critical problem is not acknowledged with urgency and importance this area deserves. The wide remit of the current Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government [in England] makes it impossible for the Secretary of State to give community cohesion the attention it deserves.

“A dedicated Minister for Cohesion would resolve this problem. The new position should oversee the implementation of the Protecting What Matters cohesion strategy across all government departments and report directly to the Prime Minister.

“More generally, the government’s cohesion work must be grounded in a hopeful, ambitious and positive vision for a cohesive British society, rather than a mere reaction to the negative narratives peddled by the far-right.”

Hate crime

Lowles said there was also a need to rebuild trust with the Muslim community: “Hate crime is rising in Britain, with Muslims increasingly the targets. The far-right are becoming more and more brazen in their undisguised hate speech and calls for violence.

“This is engendering a febrile atmosphere where racism is normalised and mainstreamed. A lot is at stake if the government fails to get this right. As well as tackling racism, the government should encourage and offer a more positive image of Muslims by highlighting the considerable contribution they make to British society. The focus must be on shared values rather than differences.

“To ensure the success of this work, the government must reset its relationship with Muslim communities and engage with the key Muslim organisations, such as the Muslim Council of Britain, with whom it has had no contact since Labour enforced a strict engagement policy back in 2008.

“This is not the time for ideological, religious or political purity. The focus must be on our shared humanity. A failure to encourage a mature relationship with all of Britain’s diverse communities – even where there are differences – will only exacerbate the existing problems and make them harder to solve.”

Online Safety Act

Another measure proposed by Lowles would see the Online Safety Act used with greater frequency to deal with online racism. He wrote: “Ofcom has singularly failed to enforce the tenets of the 2023 Online Safety Act which places a legal duty of care on social media companies, search engines, and messaging platforms to protect users—especially children—from illegal and harmful content.

“To date, Ofcom has prosecuted only one social media company (4chan) for online hate, imposing a paltry fine of £20,000. In an age when hate is monetarised and the owners of social media companies are openly complicit in spreading extremism and disinformation, it is entirely unacceptable to allow these companies to police themselves. Their power and influence has to be checked.

“With 85% of the public believing that social media companies have made it easier for extremists to spread their propaganda and 71% thinking that online disinformation undermines our democracy, intervention will be met with general favour.

“The government must ensure that Ofcom robustly enforces the law by imposing large fines and by public exposure, and should be prepared to withstand the angry backlash from the Trump administration and individuals like Elon Musk. We should not allow our society to be divided and undermined by pernicious foreign interference. If ever there was a need for “sovereignty” this problem has brought it into alarming focus.”

Immigration policy

Lowles also advocates a more humane and fair immigration policy, stating: “Politicians have long viewed the rise of the far-right exclusively through the prism of immigration. This fundamental misunderstanding has led to increasingly draconian immigration rules and self-inflicted damage to the British economy.

“The government needs to take a different approach. The British public have a more mature and nuanced view of immigration than the media and the political narrative would suggest. The government has a responsibility to take a measured long-term view and make decisions that will benefit the country.

“A new immigration strategy will need public support and trust. I would like to see the government initiate a consultation with the British public to arrive at an immigration policy that balances societal needs and moral obligations with what is workable and acceptable to the public. We need:
* an economic and industrial strategy that will ensure decently-paid jobs and futures,
* an employment strategy that prevents rogue employers from exploiting immigrants at the expense of British workers,
* a cohesion strategy to ensure that British society can happily absorb newcomers
and – in partnership with others:
* an international climate and aid strategy that seeks to alleviate some of the worst effects of climate change, war and poverty.

Susceptible

He added: “Too many boys and young men are slipping through the system, underachieving at school, failing to get employment and becoming susceptible to misogynistic and extremist messages. White working class boys are statistically the lowest-performing academic group in the UK mainstream school system, while one in seven 16-24 year-old men are not in education, employment or training. At the height of his online exposure, the violent misogynist Andrew Tate was regarded positively by 41% of 16 and 17 year-old males.

“For too long we have seen young men as a problem, identified through crime, misogyny or extremism. We need to flip the script and address the root cause of these behaviours. This means providing boys with healthier role models, enabling and encouraging fathers to play full and equal roles as care givers, supporting men’s mental health, re-opening youth and sports clubs and helping boys to succeed at school. “Preventing violence means investing in boys before they fall victim to harm or indoctrination, and also challenging harmful gender stereotypes that underpin violence.

“As these objectives will require cooperation across several government departments, I suggest a dedicated Minister for Men and Boys to direct this agenda and report directly to the Prime Minister.”

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