UK role in the growth of groups that inspired Norway’s mass murderer

An article in the Guardian today (Saturday 14 April 2012) highlights the growing menace of the far right across Europe and the USA.

It provides the link between the phenomenon of home-grown EDL street fascism and the recent tragic murders in Norway.

It also brings home the dangers inherent in turning a blind eye and allowing racist and discriminatory scourges such as islamaphobia to take root in democratic societies, whilst politicians, press and the media as a whole fail to sincerely challenge prejudice, stereotyping and false public perceptions.

This piece if understood properly and taken seriously, ought to send alarm bells throughout the editing rooms of our tabloid newspapers, mainstream media agencies and to all political parties with any sense of responsibility to the British public.

Mark Townsend’s piece ‘Far-right anti-Muslim network on rise globally as Breivik trial opens’, is an excellent exposition of the evidence surrounding

the growth of European fascism. It also provides an analysis of the factors helping the counter-jihad movement to consolidate its support base, the most critical of which is the current economic crisis – it argues that economic insecurities are helping to promote fear, nationalism and the need for a common enemy across Europe which poses a threat to our freedoms. ‘Radical Islam’ is increasingly being touted as that enemy.

Free, fair and liberal societies across Europe on seeing this report should shudder at the potential consequences of far right groups collaborating operationally, becoming more and more effective in communicating across state boundaries and in sharing information and resources.

Nick Clegg did an excellent job with his now famous speech in Luton entitled ‘An open confident society’. It was here that he drove home the dangers of not taking a liberal and balanced approach to tackling racism, extremism and Islamophobia within society. This was a seminal speech which did a great deal to build the confidence of affected minority communities in the Liberal Democrats and in our inspirational vision of society.

As Liberal Democrats, we ought to be taking every single opportunity wherever possible within every sphere of our activities in the local communities we serve and live in, to confront such challenges whenever they arise, and to live up to the vision of Nick Clegg’s open and confident society.