KEIR Starmer has been criticised for “wrapping himself in flags” and emboldening the far-right in the wake of mass protests in London.
On Sunday, the Prime Minister said the UK “will never surrender” the Union flag to the far-right after over 100,000 people attended an event organised by agitator Tommy Robinson.
During the rally in Whitehall, attendees turned violent and attacked police officers, leading to multiple arrests with more set to follow.
In response, former Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie (below) panned Starmer’s response to the growing threat posed by right-wing extremists.
“The Prime Minister's attempts to wrap himself in flags will do nothing to help him or to stop the far right”, Harvie told The National.
“Starmer’s complete failure to acknowledge the severe far-right threat the country is facing is extraordinary. Honesty is needed, acknowledging both the present danger posed by men like Farage, Robinson and Musk, and Britain’s long history of racism and colonialism.”
During Robinson’s event – dubbed “Unite the Kingdom” – tech billionaire Elon Musk appeared via video call, where he claimed that “massive uncontrolled migration” was contributing to the “destruction of Britain”.
The former Trump ally also labelled the political left as “the party of murder”, referring to the recent killing of American conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, who was shot during an event held on a Utah college campus.
Authorities have not determined the shooter’s motivation, and the current suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was listed as being “unaffiliated” with any political party in the US. His parents are both registered Republicans.
Musk was later accused of incitement by Brendan Cox, the husband of late MP Jo Cox, who was killed in a politically motivated attack in 2016.
“Unite the Kingdom” followed weeks of anti-immigration protests held outside of hotels housing asylum seekers and a nationwide campaign peddled by right-wing groups to fly national flags in public places across the UK.
The National previously reported that the man behind one such campaign in Glasgow, Kieran Logan, had called for refugees to be “gassed” and shared social media posts praising Adolf Hitler.
“A large part of the reason why these racist groups feel so emboldened is because of the catastrophic failures of his government”, Harvie continued.
“Whether it is the broken promises, the economic stagnation, or the painful cuts and austerity they have thrust on vulnerable people, Labour has been a disaster. Just like the Tory governments that came before them, they have tried to blame refugees and migrant communities for those failures.
“Starmer should spend less time trying to parrot Nigel Farage and more time solving the cost-of-living crisis and the other huge problems that people and families across the UK are facing.”
Number 10 was approached for comment.
