AS an Immigrant, I’m afraid of the far right. But I also fear failed integration.
I’ve never been ashamed to say I love this country.
Since I arrived on these shores as a Kenya immigrant at the age of five, my family and I have embraced British life.
Recognising initially that we were guests in a foreign country, my family knew that integrating into Britain would not only benefit us, it would benefit those around us as well.
For 23 years, we have made this country our home, contributing to the economy and society.
My Mum? As a care worker doing the undervalued but immensely important job of looking after the elderly.
Myself? Through making sure I got a good education, joining the workforce at 16 and contributing to the country’s social, political and economic life.
I have always felt safe in this country, hopeful that the racial unrest of bygone decades was gone for good.
The recent spate of violence by far-right, anti-immigration protestors has made me feel, for the first time, a little bit less safe walking down the streets of what I now consider to be my own country.
I share the national rage that a diabolical individual was able to stab three innocent girls to death and injure many more.
I share the horrors and fears that people feel about a crumbling country — including the seemingly endless conveyor belt of violent crime incidents, the troubling hikes in immigration and a growing system of two-tier rules.
The thugs who have hijacked the recent atrocity to wreak mayhem on our streets are not only a disgrace to British values, they dishonour the memory of those children in the most abhorrent way.
Yes, not everyone at these protests is a far-right extremist.
In fact, I’ll be the first to say that painting all protestors with the same brush is fanning the flames further.
But those few who are out to cause violent disorder while claiming they are defending their country are nothing but opportunistic thugs.
I, an immigrant, am more British than them. True patriots don’t beat up innocent civilians or loot shops.
They don’t burn down buildings, attack police men and women, and terrorise communities.
That being said, let’s face facts. Far-right ideology is an insidious scourge.
While politicians rightly condemn the carnage caused by these hateful mobs, they MUST also acknowledge the need to tackle legitimate concerns that exist around immigration.
I fear the far right — and, equally, I fear where failed integration is taking this country.
Of course, we must do more to combat genuine far-right sentiments — I don’t just mean anyone who is worried about immigration or who believes multiculturalism has failed.
It is right to crack down on the deliberate spread of lies intended to incite racial and religious violence.
It is right to champion facts and evidence to bust conspiracy theories spread by genuine white supremacists.
It is just as important to be proactive in undoing years of political inaction on integration.
It’s all well and good for the Prime Minister to get up on his No 10 podium and “guarantee” to bring the “full force of the law” crashing down on racist thugs.
The real test of bravery is whether he can also promise to take seriously the concerns of ordinary law-abiding citizens about the failures of immigration, integration and multiculturalism.
Most importantly, can he guarantee policy over platitudes?
It is within the Government’s gift to strengthen integration and boost social cohesion.
The Government can start by tightening rules and expectations around assimilation.
Integration isn’t a dirty word — expecting those who we allow into our country to respect our values makes us no less civil and no less benevolent as a country.
More stringent requirements and background checks should be applied to anyone who wants to make Britain their home to avoid importing unnecessary security threats from abroad to add to those we already have here.
There should also be stronger systems for reporting individuals with radical views, and identifying those who get sucked into conspiracy theories and express a wish to harm innocent people.
Frankly, these rules should apply both to foreign and home-grown extremists, be they radical Islamists, white supremacists or deranged lone wolves.
This is not about being a punitive police state that strips people of freedoms at the faintest whiff that they’re a wrong’un, or just because they happen to be an immigrant.
It is about protecting communities for all those who want to see this country thrive as a civil, orderly place that is home to people from around the world.
The far right has no place in 2024, yet only by addressing how government failures also fuel division can we reckon with the problem.
