Hi ,

The riots are more than thuggery, they are violent racist acts aimed at expelling people from our communities because they are Muslim, Black or brown, or migrants. This is a deeply scary thing, but it must be understood.

Far-right rioters targeting libraries, mosques, and homes over the weekend are the direct result of politicians and the media leading decades of scapegoating in order to uphold the inequalities of wealth and power that benefit them. "Respectable" and "mainstream" voices have normalised far-right rhetoric, while many in the media have been only too happy to broadcast and weaponise far-right talking points.

Right now, many of the worst offenders are hurrying to condemn some of the violence against property and the police, but also drawing nonsense parallels between peaceful protest and rioters doing Nazi salutes; declaim responsibility for years of fearmongering and harm to people; or even openly say that the rioters have a point.

This cannot be just about condemning disorder, criminality, or thuggery. We know that inequality is a major driver of the far right, undermining trust in democracy and breaking the systems that used to organise resistance. This must be about changing our broken systems and empowering the people the rioters tried to remove.

It has been heartening to see how many in our communities understand this point much better than politicians and commentators. In Bristol and Plymouth, people rushed to defend their neighbours in mosques and asylum hotels. People in Sunderland organised themselves to clear up debris while fundraisers in Belfast have raised over £100,000 to support businesses targeted by the far right. And while we know communities will stand in solidarity and support each other, they must not be abandoned by the government to try to heal this themselves.

Solidarity from us at the Equality Trust. We hope you're feeling safe and well.

What can I do?

• As much of the recent violence has been targeted at asylum seekers and refugees, it’s worth considering donating or volunteering for an organisation such as Migrants Organise, Migrant Voice, Refugee Action, or Care4Calais.
• A GoFundMe has been set up to help repair Liverpool’s Spellow Lane Library Hub, which also serves as a food bank, after it was set on fire by rioters.
  
• Hope Not Hate's Community Resources includes advice on staying safe, guidance for local officials, and advice about counter protests.
  
• If you do go to a counter protest, ensure you stay safe and informed.
• Be careful about sharing information online; there's a lot of unclear information circulating about planned far right protests causing a lot of fear.
• You can use our tool to write to your MP about inequality to also make it clear that the government's actions needs to go beyond policing and trials. You can rewrite the suggested letter to include your response to the riots, or you're welcome to use some of the above language if it helps. 

What should the Equality Trust focus campaigns on over the summer? You said:

• "The Equality Trust's mission and the learnings from the Spirit Level are absolutely critical to the future of this country. However (and this is a big however) success will only come from persuading the relatively wealthy (at all levels) that greater income and wealth equality is better for all (including them). Delivering the massive change required to transform this country requires the consent of all..."
  
  
• "That is an excellent question, a really valuable one. I think opposing Austerity is all its forms should be a primary mission for yourselves and also other campaigning organisations, as at its heart Austerity was built upon a lie and is fundamentally dishonest and is materially misleading. A house-hold budget is in no way similar to a national budget and anyone who tries to imply that they are alike is guilty of being not just disingenuous but of deliberately attempting to mislead and mis-direct members of the public."
  
  
• "Getting the message across to the general public that inequality affects everybody negatively and is not inevitable. Taking part in summer gatherings wherever possible."
  
• "I think you should be empowering our poor and vulnerable communities, giving them the language to express their difficulties and understanding how they can be helped. I also think that the Labour government need to stop following the Conservative model of governance around market forces and bring public services back into public ownership."
  
• "It would be very useful if you could help highlight the work of economists like Stephanie Kelton, Ann Pettifor, Richard Murphy etc who explain that our government creates money and that debt is not the problem we've been told it is. The right kind of government spending grows the economy and makes life better. It's an investment not a cost. Austerity is not needed and is actually counterproductive."