From families and communities to political parties and business organisations, Brexit has caused a great divide in all parts of our society. The Conservative Party leadership contest offers little in the way forward, and the Labour Party seem unwilling or unable to utter the words ‘people’s vote’ without all manner of caveats.
What this country really needs is a solution to this Brexit mess. What we do not need (or want) is Donald Trump visiting the UK during this delicate time and fanning the flames of further division and insecurity which we are all trying to extinguish. We do not need Trump awakening nor propelling the legitimacy and enthusiasm of individuals and movements that can be detrimental to our society.
Trump has already shown what he believes his role is here over the next couple of days: he has backed Boris Johnson to be our next prime minister, labelled Nigel Farage his friend and called Meghan Markle “nasty”. He couldn’t even wait until he came off Air Force One before launching a Twitter tirade at London mayor Sadiq Khan, who, in an entirely unrelated fact, is the only Muslim mayor in any major Western city.
How do we heal and unify our polarised country yet host a man who has built his whole political career on division? This is a man whose immigration policies have not only seen innocent children separated from their parents but also put these children in cages. This is a man who legitimised xenophobia by categories the whole nation of Mexico as criminals and rapists. This is a man who happily criticises Britain’s current political crisis and yet does nothing to halt the far right white supremacy brewing in his own backyard – in fact he benefits from it. As do his “friends” – Boris Johnson, the presumptive winner of the leadership contest, and Nigel Farage have done well out of a Trump presidency.
This is unsurprising. Their perspective and political philosophies all come from the same place. Brexit, Trumpism – they both rely on stoking up fear and division, undermining political institutions and claiming to represent the ‘real people’. Just like in the United States, it is people from marginalised communities in the UK who will suffer from an imported pound shop Trumpism.
Hate crimes fluctuate more than usual when there are conflictual elections, terrorist attacks and emotionally charged events. All of these create a binary ‘us or them’ society, which the likes of Trump and Farage have mastered the art of harnessing and utilising.
It is no coincidence that Trump’s divisive rhetoric during the presidential campaign and his subsequent election strongly correlate with the steep increase in hate crime the US experiences. According to the FBI, hate crime has increased for the third consecutive year. Out of the 7,100 hate crimes reported in America in 2017, nearly three out of five were motivated by race and ethnicity. Religion and sexual orientation were also primary motivators. In addition to this, bullying in schools have seen an increase caused by the rhetoric Trump used during his presidential campaign.When a president refers to certain races as “animals” from “shithole countries”, these vile sentiments trickle down and are replicated in every level of society.
Similarly, the UK Home Office stated that there was a clear spike in hate crimes and xenophobia both during the referendum campaign, and indeed after the results were announced. The number of racially or religiously aggravated offences were 44% higher in the month following the referendum result compared to the same month in the previous year. Some 1,630 hate offences were recorded in March 2019 – the initial set month the UK was due to leave the EU. Of these, 156 were Islamophobic – almost double the amount reported in February. The NSPCC reported that racial abuse and bullying of children in the UK has risen by a fifth since 2015-16. Children have resorted to whitening their skin in order to fit in and reduce the amount to bullying they receive. WRecent events show us religious or racially motivated catastrophes does not have to occur in the same country for its effects to be seen within society: according to UK police data, racist and religious hate crimes in London hit their highest levels in a year in the aftermath of the Christchurch mosque shootings.
This shows the international reach and impact extremism can have. It knows no borders or boundaries. This is why creating friendships and deals between the likes of Trump, Boris and Farage could result in the further strengthening of extremist positions and the encouragement of more transatlantic alt-right unification, which could result in the opening of floodgates we may never be able to close.
From undermining the media and electoral standards to perpetuating xenophobic and sexist attitudes in society, these men and their friendship prove detrimental to us all.
This is why the fight for a people’s vote and fighting against Trump are two sides of same coin. The values that we fight for – a liberal, open and tolerant society – are the very same which are under threat here from the likes of Farage and Johnson, and across the pond in the United States.
Leading this fight against economic and social nationalism are young, diverse people from all walks of life. LGBTQ and BAME communities, men and women of all religious creeds and none are standing up for their future, demanding a people’s vote, and fighting against Trump.