With a wave of right-wing extremism sweeping through Europe, the tide could well crash onto British shores. With the cost of living rising furiously across Britain, tension is brewing amongst the population. Many have begun to compare this rise in tension to that preceding the Bristol and London riots we have seen in the past.

The Current Climate

The current economic climate has seen fuel and food prices rocket, driven by the War in Ukraine and moves to reduce dependency on Russian oil. There is social pressures and concerns that the current circumstances are not going to be tolerated. The rise of populist far-right parties across Europe, including the French National Rally, The AfD in Germany and Fidesz in Hungary, have been so successful due to their capitalisation on ‘anti-establishment’ policies. They enforce the feelings that establishments have let people down and these far-right populist parties can reinforce the link between the people and government, which many were attracted to causing their rise. With their rising popularity, danger is lurking where these extremist parties may gain power and start implementing policies which could limit rights of immigrants, women and severally alienating the working-class population in favour of far-right policies.

The treatment of those in the most deprived areas of the UK during the COVID-19 Pandemic has also contributed to rising ‘anti-establishment’ feelings and deepening the divisions between the classes. The less affluent were hit massively by the pandemic being less likely to be able to work from home and receive furlough and a poor level of sick pay. Key workers kept the country going and were deemed as ‘hero’s’ for their efforts during lockdown, however, 4/10 key workers earn less than £10 an hour. In recent months we have seen an increase in strikes with train drivers, judges and teachers demanding better pay alongside mounting living costs.

 The pandemic also saw the emergence of multiple protest movements including the Black Lives Matter Movement eruption are the brutal murder of George Floyd, protests surrounding Britain’s slave trade history and the reclaim the streets movement following the murder of Sarah Everard. These movements however have resulted in the emergence of an anti-police narrative relating back to the anti-establishment feelings exemplified by the Brexit vote and showing similarities to the rising tensions before the outbreak of the Bristol Riots.

Image shows protesters in Bristol throwing statue of Slave Trader Colston into the river. 

The Bristol Riots

The Bristol Riots were a series of disturbances in 1980,1987 and 1992 in the St Paul’s District and Hartcliffe estate in the city. At St Paul’s, police officers were met with resistance after an armed raids on a café know as a drug den after rising tensions amongst the community for the alienation of black youths, poor housing and racial tensions between the black community and the police. In 1987, tensions from the 1980 riots still clung in the air when 600 police officers raided the St Paul’s district area claiming of drugs and drinking offences. Both raids escalated quickly into serious rioting from protestors. In 1987 the riots lasted three days with missiles amongst some of the weapons used against police officers. In 1992, two men were killed by police after been knocked off a motorbike they had stolen. As a result of the deaths of two well-known men in the community and of the denial of funding by the governments city challenge initiative, tensions erupted into a three-day riot with police attacked and shops smashed up.

The London Riots

The London riots took place following the death of Mark Duggan, who was shot dead by police in August 2011 in Tottenham, his family organised a peaceful protest demanding justice for Mark. The peaceful march turned into violent rioting and looting in Tottenham and soon sparked riots in Brixton, Enfield, Islington, Woodgreen and Central London. Twenty-four hours later, there was significant rioting outbreaks in 17 boroughs of London. Similar rioting followed in Birmingham and Nottingham and into the north-west of England. Overall, 5 people died, 205 were injured of which 189 were police officers.