The soul of our nation is at stake - we must stand up to the far right

The protest was not isolated - hotels housing asylum seekers are targeted, mosques are regularly attacked and the political climate is dominated by the far-right, race-baiting and Islamophobic Reform UK, supported by their friends at GB News.

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Austerity, lack of government infrastructure investment, mismanagement (HS2 anyone?) and corporate greed are not factors in discourse when scapegoating the ills of society on to immigrants and minorities.

Recently, a Reform councillor in Leicestershire blamed the drying of a local reservoir, caused by unusually high temperatures, a lack of rainfall, and a lack of investment, on... yes, you have guessed it, mass immigration rather than climate change.

What our country needs is principled leadership offering a home to minorities and refusing to dance to the dark and divisive mood music being set by the far-right.

We need a leader who can rise to this challenge and build a broad anti-racist coalition across political and civil society.

Dispiritingly, we haven't seen such leadership from the Prime Minister and his cabinet.

In fact, the government, fearful that Reform continues to gain popularity, is trying to outflank them from the right.

From Keir's “island of strangers” speech, to dehumanising immigration policies and draconian crackdowns on Gaza solidarity campaigners, Labour have embraced Reform-lite politics.

Some imagine this will help win back former Labour voters who shifted to the Conservatives in the 2019 election and subsequently to the Reform Party.