Something dark is happening on the British right.Racist language and ideas once considered beyond the pale are becoming increasingly mainstream.
In recent weeks, former Tory and UKIP MP Douglas Carswell has called for the “mass deportation of Pakistanis from Britain,” while self-styled academic Matthew Goodwin has revived the old “can Rishi Sunak be English?” trope.
Conservative shadow chancellor Mel Stride, meanwhile, said welfare should be restricted to UK citizens because “British citizenship should mean something.”
Racism in British politics is nothing new. But as Sam Freedman recently argued in this excellent (paywalled) piece, we’re seeing a shift toward ethno-nationalist rhetoric from within the political mainstream.
This hasn’t happened by accident. The rise in racist language is part of a calculated strategy to break taboos and reshape the cultural contours of political debate.
So how has this become possible? How did ideas once confined to the fringes of the British National Party become common currency in supposedly centre-right circles—and widely debated in newspapers and broadcast studios? And just how alarmed should we be by the rise of the far-right?
To help answer these questions, I spoke this week with Harry Shukman, journalist, researcher at Hope Not Hate, and author of Year of the Rat, a remarkable new book based on more than a year spent undercover with Britain’s far-right.
Posing as ‘Chris,’ Harry infiltrated nine far-right groups—some well known, like Britain First, others far less visible. Among them were the Basket Weavers, who present as a harmless men’s social club, but behind closed doors promote antisemitic conspiracy theories and dream of founding whites-only communities.
What struck me most, speaking with Harry and reading his book, is how Silicon Valley is helping power this movement—not just through unmoderated social platforms that amplify hate, but also through money.
In Tallinn, Estonia, Harry encountered white nationalists linked to the Human Diversity Foundation, a Wyoming-registered outfit funded by a US tech billionaire to pursue “race science.”
It sounds fringe. But it’s not. The Foundation’s magazine, Aporia, has thousands of readers. Conservative MP Neil O’Brien reposted one of its articles. Lords Toby Young and Nigel Biggar have both appeared on its podcast.
This is how extremism moves into the mainstream—from obscure online journals to the pages of The Spectator, and, as Harry explains below, to the social feeds of Reform UK candidates.
Harry also walked us through the world of think tanks and self-styled advisors who are recycling far-right ideas into Westminster politics - like Andrew Sabisky, whose views on racial differences and IQ cost him his job with Dominic Cummings in 2020. But that didn’t stop him secretly working with one of Rishi Sunak’s special advisors. (And breakfasting with Palantir boss Peter Thiel.)
Harry has done something extraordinary—and at no small personal risk. He exposes a hidden, growing network of far-right influencers and explains the distinction between the politics that trades in racist tropes and the often lost, disillusioned young men who are pulled into its orbit.
It’s a vital conversation for this political moment. I hope you find it as revealing as I did.
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