Hi ,

The racist riots that spread through British cities in the last week of July were shocking, but not particularly surprising. Violent racism has been simmering for decades now, stoked to a boil by a media and political system that has upheld inequality by scapegoating migrants, Muslims, and Black and Brown people. Leaders within the British far right have been openly calling for riots for years.

The question many of us have is: why? Why have we been trapped on a steady path towards far-right violence? And why have those in power chosen to keep us on this road?

Some of the answers lie in inequality. Only last month, Professors Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson released their updated and expanded Spirit Level at 15, which showed how much inequality undermines trust and democracy, while encouraging greater racial disparities. That's far from the only evidence, though: the rise of the global far right and the rise in inequality go hand-in-hand, from Eastern Europe to India, America to us.

Because, although many commentators are keen to dismiss the far right as a problem of law and order, opportunism, or random criminals, many of the wealthy and powerful have benefited enormously from the far right around the world. They, in turn, have provided the far right with resources and access to power. This global link is deeply worrying, but also indicates what we need to do to actually face the threat of the far right: tackle inequality.