BME National and other anti-racist and migrants rights organisations are calling for Parliament to be recalled in light of racist riots which are tearing through England.
In an open letter to the Prime Minister, the organisations state that an emergency Cobra meeting is not enough to tackle this violence, and that it is the government’s responsibility to “take command of the narrative and show leadership”. This is a national emergency and Parliament should be recalled to effect a national, coordinated political response which gets to the root of the violence.
Coordinated by the Runnymede Trust, and signed by 80 organisations including Choose Love, the Muslim Council for Britain, Amnesty International UK, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, and HOPE not Hate, the letter raises particular concern with questions on ‘integration’ and immigration as a response to this far-right violence.
“Muslim communities and people of colour should never have to justify their level of integration in order to claim basic protection from criminal acts, and it is incredulous that we should have those debates in the midst of this unprovoked and sustained violence. To blame the victims of this violence is an insult to people of colour across the country”, the letter says.
The organisations call on the new Labour government to foster zero tolerance for far-right, racist and anti-migrant narratives. This is not simply a question of online misinformation, or increased police surveillance, but involves a wholesale shift in our political culture, language and policies.
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