Theresa May’s government is in a bit of a pickle. And for once not because BoJo the clown has been caught with his hand stuck firmly in the Brexit cookie jar; scavenging around for a spare $100 million per week for the NHS. Little compensation, really, considering how he had promised that exiting the EU quagmire of Britain’s own making would free up more than three times this amount. But as we all know, the country’s least favourite toff-about-town isn’t in the business of redress. Reportedly, he had his sights set on splashing this cash to steal the prize from the original Milk Tray Man of British politics: Jeremy Corbyn. Yet his boss wasn’t playing ball. Or, to adopt the sheer misogynist rhetoric of one Cabinet member, May like totally ‘bitch slapped’ him.
The poor Prime Minister. She had likely hoped that the most treacherous navigation would be under the Brexit Bridge of troubled waters. Yet this was not to be. At least not in the short-term. For the ongoing trial of Darren Osborne — the man who last summer drove into a crowd of worshippers as they left a mosque in London’s Finsbury Park — looks set to serve as yet another litmus test of Britain’s multiculturalism.
The narrative of revenge goes back further than the likes of Osborne; all the way to Osama. Thus while May must directly tackle the Islamist terrorist threat — she must also understand how imperative it is to similarly confront the far-right. Because, simply put, one side feeds the other
Osborne has said he was seeking retribution for ISIS attacks on Manchester and London. The jury has also heard how he was ‘radicalised’ by the BBC drama, Three Girls. This was a three-part dramatisation of the Rochdale sex abuse scandal, which along with others across England, came to be known as the Asian Sex Gang cases. Referring as it did to instances of prolonged predatory behaviour by groups of mainly Pakistani men towards underage, vulnerable white girls. Such groups also operated in the Rotherham area from 1997-2003, involving more than 1,400 victims.
Theresa May had been swift to condemn what happened at Finsbury Park as an extremist crime. And she was right to do so. Not because we should dismiss the atrocities committed by the Asian Sex Gangs. Just as we must never forget the institutional failure, particularly on the part of the police and the Crown Prosecution, that allowed these rapists to go free for so very long. But because Britain also needs to get serious about curbing the tide of far-right fundamentalism. It is no coincidence, for example, that in the run-up to the mosque attack Osborne successfully reached out to former English Defence League (EDL) leader Tommy Robinson as well as members of Britain First; the latter being a certain unquiet American president’s preferred choice of white supremacists over the other side of the pond. Too much time has already been squandered.
Downing Street must come up with a new counter-terrorism strategy. Or at the very least admit defeat on this front and wait for a Corbyn government to come to the rescue. Either way this means rethinking the Prevent strategy that was drawn up on the watch of that illegal heir to Thatcher’s throne — the warmongering Tony Blair — back in 2003. This comprises one of the four Ps of London’s post-9/11 response to terrorism: Prepare for attacks; Protect the public; Pursue the attackers; and Prevent their radicalisation. That this didn’t fail to thwart the 7/7 bombings or, the spate of more recent terror attacks tells us all that we need to know about this flawed policy. Though it will perhaps come as a surprise to none more so than BoJo that policing the classroom activities of a four-year-old will neither defeat ISIS nor the dilute the lure of gapping it in Syria.
What is needed is a strategy that broadens its scope in terms of both intent and purpose. Meaning that if we are to subscribe, even momentarily, to the narrative of ‘revenge attacks’ — as espoused by both new and hardened groupies of the established far-right agenda — we must go back to the very beginning. Especially when political structures, even those marginal ones riding on what is left of Ukip’s frayed coattails, talk about avenging past attacks. And only then will we see, to borrow from Philip Larkin’s poetry, the apple unbitten in the palm. After all, the narrative of revenge goes back further than the likes of Osborne; all the way to Osama. And presumably the last thing that Britain wants to do is to legitimise the non-state actors that it aims to protect its citizenry from. Thus while May must directly tackle the Islamist terrorist threat — she must also understand how imperative it is to similarly confront the far-right. Because, simply put, one side feeds the other.
Indeed, former Ukip leader Nigel Farage has already swung an advantage the PM’s way. The party risks being “worthless” within 18 months, he warned this week. So, Mrs May what are you waiting for? Other than the Milk Tray Man.
The writer is the Deputy Managing Editor, Daily Times. She can be reached at [email protected] and tweets @humeiwei
Published in Daily Times, January 25th 2018.