U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has expressed concern at what he called the rise of the far-right in Europe.
The leader of the left-wing Labour Party cited civil unrest in Britain over mass immigration, and the electoral gains made by nationalist parties in Germany and France as an example of “right-wing extremism” becoming more mainstream.
“We can see what’s happening in Germany with the recent election, and we can see what’s happening in France and other countries, and I’m worried about the far-right because it’s the snake oil of the easy answer,” Starmer said in an interview with the BBC broadcast on Sunday.
The right-wing Alternative for Germany recently won local elections in the eastern state of Thuringia, and came second to the center-right CDU in Saxony. Similarly, French nationalist party National Rally stormed to victory in the European Parliament elections in June before falling short in the snap parliamentary elections called following the European vote.
“I am concerned about the rise of the far right because it promises simple answers as a quack product,” Starmer said.
The British government has endorsed a draconian crackdown on anyone found to have been even remotely involved in the anti-mass immigration riots that swept Britain last month. Several individuals have been jailed for considerable lengths of time for comments made online considered to have been inciting racial hatred or endorsing violent protest.
In the context of the U.K. authorities arresting almost 1,300 people, 800 of whom were charged, Starmer emphasized that he accepts that citizens have “clear opinions” on issues such as migration. “But under no circumstances will I tolerate these riots. Nor will I change my policy in the slightest as a consequence of this violence,” he added.
The Labour leader dismissed the suggestion that Britain was an inherently racist country by saying, “We are a country of decent and tolerant people.”
He claimed that the “true face of Britain” was self-proclaimed anti-fascist counter-demonstrators to the riots and locals who cleaned up the streets after the violence.
The riots were triggered by the murder of three little girls by a 17-year-old of Rwandan origin in the northern English coastal town of Southport.
The U.K. has been suffering from record immigration for years under the previous Conservative administrations — a direction unlikely to be changed under the new left-wing government.
