DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Extremism in all forms is pernicious

To the relief of a nation still struggling to come to terms with the savagery witnessed in recent days, the violence that had been predicted nationwide on Wednesday night did not materialise.

Instead, large numbers of counter-demonstrators gathered in towns and cities to raise their voices against the far-Right thugs who have brought fire and fear to Britain’s streets.

These largely well-intentioned displays of unity against mindless hooliganism should serve as a reminder in these febrile times that we still live in a fundamentally tolerant country which shuns extremism on both sides of the political spectrum.

There is no doubt it has been those of a far-Right mindset who have shamed themselves with attacks on police and hotels housing migrants

Large numbers of counter-demonstrators gathered in towns and cities to raise their voices against the far-Right thugs who have brought fire and fear to Britain’s streets

There is no doubt it has been those of a far-Right mindset who have shamed themselves with attacks on police and hotels housing migrants. Yet it was also evident that among the thousands who took to the streets to counter-protest on Wednesday, there were some whose stated views will cause offence to many.

In north London, leaflets called for ‘Zionists’ to be expunged from the area –which led the director of the respected think-tank British Future to express concern that the Finchley protest had been ‘marred’ by the anti-Semitic slur and its ‘allusion to ethnic cleansing’.Does the far-Left believe its members calling for Jews to be cast out is so very different from the fulminations of far-Right bully-boys hounding asylum seekers?

In Walthamstow, meanwhile, a Labour politician advocated using extreme violence against the far-Right.

The councillor from Dartford, Kent, was arrested yesterday after a video showed him telling a crowd of thousands through a public address system: ‘They are disgusting Nazi fascists and we need to cut all their throats and get rid of them all.’

He was later suspended by his party.

The sad truth is that extremism begets extremism, and it should now fall to the Government, the police and the courts to act decisively to put an end to this alarming escalation of confrontation and hatred.

It must be hoped that the stiff sentences being handed down to dozens of rioters will make the most moronic agitators think twice before bringing further violence to our streets.

It is possible, of course, that far-Right thugs – barely in evidence on Wednesday –may yet be re-grouping for further trouble this weekend. But if the worst is over, Sir Keir Starmer must not allow himself to believe the job is done.

The councillor from Dartford, Kent, was arrested yesterday after a video showed him telling a crowd of thousands through a public address system: ‘They are disgusting Nazi fascists and we need to cut all their throats and get rid of them all’

A small boat crossing the Channel makes it way to England. Labour have made only a vague pledge to ‘reduce net migration’, and outlined a tissue-thin plan to address the Channel small boats crisis (stock image)

Concern about immigration and the security of our borders can never be addressed through thuggery. It is, however, a wholly legitimate topic for debate – and one which is of huge concern to legions of decent British citizens.

Labour have made only a vague pledge to ‘reduce net migration’, and outlined a tissue-thin plan to address the Channel small boats crisis.

This explosion of civil unrest must force the Government to think hard about finding permanent solutions to the problem of illegal migration.

And, crucially, the Prime Minister – who ducked a question about immigration yesterday – must address what has been happening, and make clear to millions of voters that he has some understanding of the challenges this country is facing.

Anti-immigration rioters have rightly been suppressed, urgently and forcefully.The Prime Minister must now tackle deep-rooted social dislocation with the same vigour.