The attacks and murders in Southport have left every decent person reeling in shock and disbelief. I find it difficult even to comprehend the horror of this incident. The tragic loss of these young lives will have a profound and lasting impact, both physical and psychological, on the families and survivors.
Our thoughts are of course with the families, neighbours, and friends of the three little girls who lost their lives, and the other children and adults who were injured in this senseless act.
Because the matter is sub-judice, I must not comment on or pass any judgement about the case itself as that could prejudice the criminal trial.
What I can comment on is the actions of those individuals who seek to use the tragedy to promote their own agendas, to turn genuine grief into misplaced anger, and to divide us instead of uniting us.
I am angry that this tragic case has been used as an excuse by far-right thugs to riot and target innocent people, specifically asylum seekers, Muslims and people of colour. Their rioting and violence may have been driven by deliberate misinformation, but that misinformation clearly found fertile ground in the Islamophobia and racism of those who engaged in the riots.
The rise of islamophobia and other racist sentiment is a deep scar on our national life. Those who attacked Mosques and other places of worship as well as refugee centres and immigration advisory offices are now rightly being punished with severe prison sentences.
In his Downing Street news conference on 1 August, the Prime Minister announced a new police Violent Disorder Unit to co-ordinate police efforts to disrupt the far-right’s activities, including mob violence and online misinformation. Following a COBRA meeting on 5 August, the Prime Minister confirmed a “standing army” of specialist police officers to “deal with incidents where needed.”
I share your concern at the ease and speed that hateful narratives can be established and disseminated, and that this online hate so easily translates into physical violence, mobs on the streets, and attacks on the police. I have urged my colleagues in government to take action against the online platforms who have been irresponsible in disseminating the lies and propaganda which have acted as the fuel to this racist agenda.
If there is anything good we can take from the events of the past week, it must surely be the way thousands of citizens — equally appalled as you and I — have taken to the streets to express their solidarity with those whom the right wing thugs have targeted. Their declaration that immigrants are welcome and that racism has no place in modern British society shows that the far right extremists are precisely that — extremists on the fringe of decent society.
These ‘outside voices’ must not be allowed free rein to spread misinformation and provoke hate. But extremist and violent racism thrives when there is tacit complicity for casual racism. It is vital that each of us plays our part by challenging the casual racism every time we come across it in our own daily lives.
Thank you once again for contacting.
Kind regards,
Barr Gardiner
Member of Parliament for Brent West