Writing for the Mirror, Nick Lowles, Managing Director of Hope Not Hate, says the actions of the far right this week shouldn’t come as a surprise – as tensions have been allowed to bubble away for years

This week, three little girls lost their lives – Alice Dasilva Aguiar, Elsie Dot Stancombe, and Bebe King.

Whilst the nation has mourned, figures within the far right have sought to sow division and hate.

They couldn’t even bring themselves to wait a few hours before they began posting misinformation on social media, making baseless claims about the identity of the attacker and calling for their supporters to take to the streets. Their opportunism is ripping communities apart.

Sadly, the actions of the far right this week do not come as a surprise, tensions have been bubbling away for years.

The last Government were the architects of a broken asylum system, but instead of focussing on fixing it for people seeking sanctuary, and addressing the needs of communities, they doubled down on a divisive agenda which the far right have latched onto with dangerous consequences for communities.

oday communities are literally picking up the pieces after far right protests but we must not leave them to tackle hate and intolerance on their own. The new Government must take decisive action, not simply treat the symptom of far right aggression but address the cause – a lack of community cohesion and understanding.

We need a new Community Cohesion Action Strategy to build community resilience and encourage a more cohesive society and it cannot come soon enough.