Despite appearances, British people aren't all racist

I woke this morning to the deeply unwelcome news that British local council elections had returned an overwhelming victory for the Reform party.

For those not familiar with UK politics, Reform pursues an anti-immigration, isolationist agenda, and continually has to deflect charges of racism. That's not to say that the party's official policy is racist; in fact, its leadership is quick to deny this. It's true, in principle, that being opposed to immigration is not the same as being opposed to people of colour as individuals, and the party has often acted to distance itself from activists who are overtly racist.

Still, the fact that Reform has so often to say "We're _not_ racists -- honestly!" is cause for concern. Despite its many faults, this isn't a thing the Liberal Democrat party, to take one example, ever has to say.

Probably many of those who cast their votes for Reform yesterday were making some kind of protest. We like to do that in Britain -- that's how we ended up leaving the EU. Indeed, a neighbour told me after the referendum: "I was just making a protest vote. I never thought it would actually happen!"

Still, if the people who voted for Reform aren't actually racist, they are at least _tolerant_ of racism. Even the party leader, Nigel Farage, is on record as making what most people would regard as racist remarks. Despite its rhetoric, everybody knows that racism runs through the Reform movement from top to bottom.

Perhaps I could have taken Reform's victory in my stride, had I not discovered another example of our increasing racism yesterday. I was looking for information on Dovedale, a popular destination for hikers at the south of the Peak District. I accidentally ended up looking at TripAdvisor -- something I would normally avoid. [TripAdvisor's page on Dovedale] is absolutely littered with racist, prejudiced remarks. Here (and I apologise if you find this offensive) is a selection.

TripAdvisor's page on Dovedale

Huge amounts of Asian groups who had set up tents [...] Groups of men with prayer mats...

...eating curry from disposable plates [...] praying on the grass [...] I realise that we live in a multicultural country but...

...there was an almost continuous stream of people, almost all in traditional Muslim dress...

...shocked at the amount of people especially foreign flocking to this specific area.

...full of aggressive Asian and middle eastern men...

...It's been taken over by foreigners.

...Gangs of foreign men who stared at my 12 year old granddaughter...

If you enjoy visiting a Mumbai slum, in the heart of the peak district...

What I find most worrisome is that such comments only started to appear in about 2024. TripAdvisor has many poor reviews of Dovedale (which is, by the way, a place of extraordinary natural grandeur if you can be bothered to walk a mile from the car park), but before 2024 people weren't blaming brown-skinned people for the perceived problems.

Dovedale has always been a popular place for-day trips from Birmingham, which has a large Asian population. About 14% of Birmingham's residents are of Pakistani origin; there is, indeed, a sizeable Muslim contingent.

But none of this is new: Birmingham has long been home to an ethnic minority population, and Dovedale has always been overcrowded, always had a problem with litter, difficult parking, and illegal barbecues. For some reason it's only in 2024 that we started blaming Asian people for this.

Over the last few years, it seems that people have become increasingly willing to swallow racist, anti-immigration propaganda uncritically. Some of this propaganda is so absurd that it's hard to believe _anybody_ would take it seriously; yet people do, and they repeat it to their friends and workmates. I challenge this kind of nonsense whenever I hear it, but most people don't want facts. I guess they want an explanation for their increasing economic hardship, and it's easy to blame a minority group when the real causes are so complex.

I'm sorry to say that racism has never been far beneath the surface of British culture. We couldn't have prospered so well from the "triangle trade" in slaves if we'd had much respect for people of colour.

The disheartening thing is that I thought we were getting better -- I really did. Nationalist isolationism masquerading as patriotism is a global problem, but I thought Britain had risen above it. There are, in fact, huge anti-racist, anti-prejudice movements in the UK, and new ones are being formed all the time -- but they seem to be losing ground.

The once-moderate, Liberal Democrat-voting neighbourhood I live in now festooned with St George flags. I don't know when this flag changed from being a symbol of patriotism to the emblem of White supremacy but, these days, you couldn't declare your racism more vigorously unless you burned a cross.

I want to sneak out at night and tear them down, but my wife isn't keen. She thinks I'll get into fights. Even at my age I'm game for a fight with a racist, but she's probably right to object. Flags, after all, are cheap to replace, unlike my few remaining teeth.

In summary, if you're not British, and you've seen and been bemused by the election results, you're not alone. I'd like to reassure people outside the UK that we aren't all racists.

Unfortunately, it seems that a lot of us are.

Published 2026-05-09, updated 2026-05-09

Despite appearances, British people aren't all racist

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