'The anti-Muslim chants at Tommy Robinson's London march should make us all sick, where was the outrage from politicians?'

We might have been horrified by the anti-Muslim chants at last Saturday’s far-right march organised by Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley Lennon. But where was the outrage from our politicians?

When videos from a march protesting on accusations of the Metropolitan Police’s apparent “two-tiered policing" began flooding social media platforms last weekend, many were left aghast at the sight of children among those chanting anti-Muslim slogans such as “Allah Allah. Who the f*** is Allah”.

We were left aghast at the sight of protestors chanting, “We want our country back.” We were left aghast at the sight of the banner behind them reading: “This is London, not Londonistan.”

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We might have been frightened to see such a display of hatred on the streets of our capital, the same city that only eight years ago elected its first Muslim mayor and since then has elected the same Muslim mayor for a third term in office. We might have been shocked to see Laurence Fox, who most of us rejected in his bid to become our mayor just three years ago, tell the crowd: “This is what London should look like.”

We might have been incensed by his convincing the crowd that the powers that be “ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you”. We might have been angered when he reassured the crowd: “then you win.” And when he asked “Why does it feel like I’m winning?” And when he promised them, “We are not going to be silenced any longer.”

We might be inclined to believe that the far right is our biggest problem. But here lies our biggest problem: No, it was not a member of the far-right who stood at a podium outside 10 Downing Street armed with plans to clamp down on our right to protest.

It wasn’t a member of the far right who stood at that podium warning of “forces trying to tear us apart” lest he did not act now. It was not a member of the far-right who penned op-Ed after op-Ed branding Pro-Palestine protests “ hate marches” and “festivals of extremism” , decrying being cancelled when her trip to a Gaza solidarity encampment did not quite go to plan and scaremongering that our values and freedoms were being attacked by so-called “Islamists” .

It was not a member of the far-right that amended the definition of extremism, triggering fears that anyone who does not agree with the government’s stance on our most pressing matters will be silenced. It was not a member of the far-right who was forced to clarify that he did not really mean that it was okay to withhold food, water and electricity from a starving population.

Nor were they members of the far-right who dodged questions on whether a state denying food, water and electricity might just be breaking international law. It was not a member of the far-right who caused parliament to erupt in chaos when he broke rules as he prevented the SNP’s rare bid for a vote on their Gaza-Israel immediate ceasefire motion.

It was not a member of the far-right who deselected a candidate from running in the General Election because it would “frustrate” their purpose. Then parachuted in a candidate who had no prior connection to the constituency. It was not a member of the far-right who selected another candidate who labelled Muslim councillors resigning over the Israel-Gaza war who labelled Muslim councillors resigning over the Israel-Gaza war ”fleas”.

Nor were they members of the far right who were so quick to condemn pockets of violence at Pro-Palestine marches but seemed to forget the shocking scenes of last Saturday. They are not members of the far right alone who play divisive politics.

We should agree that extremism is intolerable in all its forms. We should agree that we cannot let violence and vitriol disrupt our civil order. But then where was the condemnation of last Saturday’s march? It is easy, even lazy, to pin all the blame on a bunch of far right extremists. It is not the far right that is likely to wake up on the July 5 to find themselves in power.

Any decent person would have been sickened by the clips of indoctrinated kids spewing hatred towards a marginalised group of people that has already suffered an exponential rise in hate crime. So if we seriously want to see last Saturday’s drivel stamped out, we have to acknowledge where the real problem lies. Otherwise, who knows what horrors we’ll next get to see fill the streets of our capital?

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