If you are in the UK now or are coming soon, then you may have heard of the riots in the streets we have been having.
We’re not here to tell you it’s not happening, that the streets are safe and it’s a storm in a teacup, because it isn’t.
But we are sure there is misreporting in the foreign press, so let’s explain a few things.
There was something that happened a couple of weeks ago in which three small girls were stabbed and died. The person who did it was a young man, apparently.
Social media immediately saw an opportunity. “Illegal immigrant”, “extreme Islamist”, “criminal record” and similar stuff was posted and spread rapidly. It’s not true. The chap appears to be from Wales. No matter. People don’t want to know the truth. Some people who re-posted have realised their mistake and apologised. How is that supposed to help?
The far right of the political spectrum saw an opportunity for racists protests, street violence, abuse of anyone non-white, looting and so on. So many of their followers are brainless morons who simply accepted anything as an excuse to cause division, violence and destruction.
And that’s what we have had. It’s organised and violent and when you see cars and hotels up in flames, rather sobering.
People like Nigel Farage and Elon Musk have been pushing it along. Farage says he is against violence, but these people have a point and no-one listens to them and everyone in the country is against illegal immigration. Even though illegal immigration has nothing to do with this.
The rioters say the police are to blame. ‘They didn’t say he wasn’t an illegal immigrant, so he must have been, so let’s smash up Sainsbury’s’.
The government and the police have been pretty decisive. Many people have been arrested and jailed for years, for violence and destruction and assaulting police officers, and also for knowingly spreading false and malicious misinformation via social media with intent to cause these riots. Some of the convicted were crying as they were taken away. What does that tell you about them?
The arrests and sentencing will continue. The PM is stomping on these racist vandals from a great height. No doubt there will be stiffer punishments for people spreading lies on social media.
And Russia’s role in this is yet to be determined.
Are the streets safe? Possibly. It may be that this is all over very soon.
Last night, Wednesday, a number of ‘protests’ were expected across the country. What happened? Anti-racist protestors turned out in their thousands and kept the violent ones of the streets. It was heartening to see.