Key move stopped social media liars from endangering peoples' safety last week
When I watched tv as a kid and a crime was reported on the news I'd tense - praying the suspect was not Black.
Why? Because the negative stereotyping of Black people back then was the done thing. Anything reinforcing those labels crystallised the false fears that the xenophobes were hell-bent to pushing.
We are back there now because of Reform and the Far Right who are determined to do the very same thing.
We are there because a Labour Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer's repurposing of Enoch Powell's Rivers of Blood speech has helped to fuel it.
We are back there now because of the systematic attempts of the extremists in plain sight, determined to frame everyone non-white as a danger to you and this country.
The racists and xenophobes want to dress us all up as threats to be feared and fought against.
So the speed with which the police revealed the details of a 53-year-old white man, charged after a car was driven through crowds at last week's Liverpool parade, is significant.
They did it to get ahead of the liars and troublemakers on social media who would have poured the poison into the breach if, as in the past, the particulars of the suspect had been withheld.
The police did it because they knew that without those important facts, the misinformation specialists would have sparked the kind of violence which saw Black and Brown people indiscriminately beaten in the streets after Southport last summer.
It was falsely claimed last July that the three young girls killed had been attacked by an illegal immigrant.
The lie was amplified millions of times on social media before it could be proven untrue. By then the damage had been done.
It is a damning indictment on our society that releasing a person's ethnicity immediately will now have to remain a strategy for UK law enforcement going forward.
But when high profile commentators and politicians remain determined to lie and misrepresent the truth as so many are doing on a day to day basis, police have no choice.
Starmer revealed in January that the government would look to plug the information vacuum that allowed the blitz-stirrers to wind people up last summer.
But it beggars belief too that there is only calm on our streets because the person held after last week's Liverpool horror - the facts of which have traumatised us all - is not Black.
We've gone back to the future. We are back to the days when extremists in the seventies put out leaflets warning: 'if you desire a coloured for your neighbour vote Labour'.
You wouldn't now suddenly think negatively of every 53-year-old white man but the racist agitators on social media want you to judge every Black or Brown person on the basis of what any single person is suspected of.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News
42 minutes ago
- Sky News
Andy Burnham: 'Nigel Farage could become PM - this is how Labour can stop him'
Nigel Farage could be the next prime minister - but Labour could beat him by connecting with voters more, Greater Manchester's Labour mayor has told Sky News. Andy Burnham, talking to Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast, said the Reform UK leader winning the next election "is in the realms of possibility". "But we've got to make sure that it doesn't become a reality," he said. "I don't ever demonstrate complacency as a politician, I will always say it like it is. "He's connected with people, maybe not everybody, but he's connected." Asked if he thinks Labour are not connecting with voters at the moment, he said he does not think his party is speaking enough about "working class ambition". Mr Burnham said there are "hundreds of thousands" of people in Greater Manchester who are being "held back by their housing situation". He said previous generations would have had council housing to "propel them to do amazing things" and if the government can follow up with its promise to build 1.5 million homes "they will really connect with people". The mayor said his party has not "spoken properly for quite some time now" to young people and their parents who want alternatives to the university route. He said Labour has only seemed to care "in some people's minds" about the university route, which "leaves a disconnect". To really come up strong against Mr Farage, Mr Burnham said Labour have "got to really speak to that working class ambition".
Sky News
42 minutes ago
- Sky News
Labour needs to focus on the working class, says Andy Burnham
👉 Click here to listen to Electoral Dysfunction on your podcast app 👈 Beth is catching up with Andy Burnham - the Mayor of Greater Manchester - in his office for an extra episode this week. It's just days to go until the Chancellor unveils her Spending Review and it's set to be good news for the North - they're about to get billions for big transport projects. But is that a good enough offer to keep working class Labour voters interested? Burnham explains why he thinks the government could be doing better to connect with the working classes and how to keep their votes from going to Reform and Nigel Farage. For him, it's simple - better technical education and more social housing, something he's working on with his extra devolved powers. Will he pave the way for national policy?
The National
an hour ago
- The National
Lesley Riddoch: Why won't the SNP mention Scottish independence?
Perhaps he didn't see the (obvious) question coming from Good Morning Scotland's Gary Robertson, but the PM's out-of-hand rejection of a second indyref was instinctive and unequivocal. The Knight with expensive sponsored glasses, is not for turning. Or democracy. READ MORE: Independence isn't going away, no matter how much Keir Starmer wishes for it More than that, Starmer's dismissive, contemptuous tone made clear that these days he's not for listening to anyone – not his Scottish lieutenant Anas Sarwar desperate for a pre-Hamilton by-election break, not his own backbenchers demanding urgent Gaza action instead of a scandalous hush-hush ministerial trade mission to Israel and certainly not independence supporters expecting fair play. But Starmer's provocative veto of another independence referendum for the duration of his leadership might have been serving another purpose. It let him claim John Swinney has not raised the subject with him during recent talks – something the First Minister has not yet denied. Now, the low public priority attached by SNP leaders to the cause of independence is indeed angering many Yessers. A Glasgow pal says he's received every election leaflet and message from Katy Loudon – the SNP candidate in Hamilton – and independence hasn't been mentioned in one of them. Even though indy is sitting at 54% (minimum) in the polls. So, Starmer might have been trying to put the cat amongst the independence pigeons – opening a fault line and so scunnering independence supporters in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse that they'll stay home today letting Labour's lacklustre candidate inch home. If so, I think that was a vain hope. Quite apart from Davy Russell's totally underwhelming performance (when he actually appears), I'd guess voters of almost every stripe have got bigger fish to fry. They want to send a clear message to Starmer and Rachel Reeves about meanness, betrayal and a total lack of empathy over the Winter Fuel Payments, Waspi decision, retention of the two-child cap and impending cuts to disability benefits. I'd guess most voters are still beeling about Labour's new Tory-lite agenda and they won't let the party out of jail because of Starmer winter fuel U-turn or yesterday's warm but detail-free words from Reeves. Everyone has seen and heard the priorities of UK Labour– and they aren't about protecting the vulnerable. So I'd guess few SNP voters will switch over Starmer's attempt to mix it with Swinney. Indeed, many Yessers might feel there's no point even reacting to Starmer's Unionist hard-man routine. It was indeed utterly predictable. And yet it's vital that we respond. Vital that we act as if we are disappointed. As if this impasse actually hurts. As if it could be otherwise. Because if we don't keep shining a light on the lack of democracy in this country, and the PM's hypocritical stance, no-one else will. And that's how indy supporters get jaded and worn down. So, let's pay Starmer a compliment he doesn't deserve and take his pronouncements seriously. In the interview, Starmer claimed he got a big election win last year which justifies him doing whatever he wants now – in particular promoting Scotland within the Union. READ MORE: POLL: How would you vote in the Hamilton by-election? Fine. But logically, if elections do create sweeping mandates, then a Scottish election with an indy majority will also create a mandate – for another referendum or for independence talks to begin. Won't it? If elections create mandates, then all elections do that. Unless it's one rule for Westminster and another for Holyrood. Yet we know the answer. Starmer will not countenance another referendum whatever the 2026 outcome. So, that means it's official. Might is right is now the central tenet of 'Democratic Labour' nicked from the Tories. Starmer's next claim was that nobody raises independence with him as a top priority. As Paul Kavanagh so astutely observed, security around the Prime Minister means no normal person gets to raise anything with him. But again, it's worth having a response. Independence as an arid, abstract, constitutional goal is probably not the top priority for many Yessers. But I'll tell you what it is; Sky-high energy prices – controlled by Westminster. Fuel poverty – determined by Westminster. Benefits and the welfare state – mostly decided by Westminster. Grangemouth – abandoned by Westminster. Trident – renewed by Westminster Privatised public services – imposed by Westminster. Grid connection across Scotland – overseen by Westminster. Size of the block Grant – determined by Westminster. The OECD's most regionally unbalanced advanced economy – courtesy of Westminster. I could go on. It's important to bring the indy argument straight down to earth. Another thing. Starmer said he had a duty to keep Scotland safe. But that's not achieved by putting a nuclear target on the backs of one million folk on the Clyde thanks to the Trident submarines Scots have repeatedly rejected. Real safety relies more on capacity, resilience, empowerment and democracy. Ask the Finns who share an 800-mile land border with Russia. READ MORE: Anger as TWO Scottish Labour politicians get key BBC slot on by-election eve Finland topped global cyber safety rankings last year, for a number of reasons. Certainly they have a huge standby army that's a remnant of Second World War resistance which saw Finns push back the mighty Red Army. There's also Nato membership which the Finns sincerely hope will bring big players like the US to their aid if Vladimir Putin attacks, despite Donald Trump's threat to annex Nato member Greenland. But the biggest part of Finland's safety is something the adversarial UK will never take seriously – social cohesion. The Finns are teaching all social groups to spot fake news and fact-check – this includes lessons in community colleges, digital literacy toolkits and a critical thinking curriculum in schools. As a result, online interference by Russia has not overwhelmed Finnish politics. Jussi Toivanen is a former adviser to the Finnish PM on media literacy and spoke at a Nordic Horizons event about the secret to cyber security success; it is 'Finland's 'superpower' status as a cohesive society with high levels of trust in institutions and the media, and a strong sense of identity rooted in human rights and the rule of law'. He offered an unexpected insight – 'the first line of cyber defence is the kindergarten teacher'. That's the kind of society that creates trust and safety. Not the dog-eat-dog society inherited from Margaret Thatcher – and barely touched by Labour – which only creates the suspicion and mutual fear that lets Nigel Farage and other bad actors thrive. So, we need to respond to flagrant disregard from a British Prime Minister. If we don't, the watching world will believe that Scots have given up. And perhaps more importantly, so will we. Some may think opinion polls are doing the heavy lifting for us. The latest with 54% backing for independence was even covered by BBC Scotland. Yes, I know. There is hardly a towering beacon of interest anywhere in the media save this newspaper. But when the media spotlight falls anywhere near the subject, we must act like people who still care and still have our own standards. If necessary, cos we are weary, we can fake it till we make it. No, this isn't the heady stuff of 2014. It is just skirmishing. But it's also very good practice.
