Racism ain't what it used to be

This Green and Surprisingly Pleasant Land examines why even racists are reluctant to be open about their odious views

It tells you something about how far Britain has changed when even a safe home for racists and homophobes recognises the need to exercise caution in revealing its true nature.

The safe home in question is the Nigel Farage tribute act otherwise known as Reform UK which believes it has a winning formula in implacable opposition to immigration, a perfect cover for dog whistle racism.

But support for racism is not what is was and so Reform has  been shamed into expelling the party’s more odious racists and homophobes. And the Faragists are learning to be more careful in public. In interview after interview they begin with the words ‘I’m not a racist but…’ Racism therefore no longer appears to be respectable on the populist right. On the contrary open racism has become a liability.

Compare this state of affairs with the kind of thing seen in the 1964 election when Peter Griffiths, the Conservative candidate for Smethwick, successfully campaigned on the vile slogan, ‘if you want a nigger for a neighbour, vote Labour’. He won the seat and was not disowned by the Conservatives.

Now (but probably for not much longer) the Tory leader is of Indian origin. In fact the government leaders of all three mainland British nations have been people of colour. More importantly their race has hardly been an issue except among the die hard racists like Mr Farage who cannot resist questioning Rishi Sunak’s embrace of the country he leads.

The rest of Britain has moved on but Reform has become the chosen vessel for a rag bag collection of people who remain unreconciled to the emergence of a multi-cultural Britain and are alarmed by social reforms.

As the Conservatives lurch in a rightward direction leading Tories have called for a pact with Mr Farage. It’s good for his credibility but not so good for the Tories who are tainted by Reform’s extremism. They get into an even bigger mess when trying to outbid Reform in the nastiness stakes.

Moreover they are fighting a losing battle because the bulk of support for what might be described as Olde England reactionaryism is vested in an older generation which by definition is dying out.

The mirage of a golden British past of happy white people uncontaminated by foreigners is not merely false but increasingly irrelevant. The populist right claim to be the true patriots. However patriotism is supposed to mean love of the country but these people hate what Britain has become and reserve their adoration for a mythical past.

Taking comfort from the past is not necessarily a bad thing and it is understandable that change can be alarming but most people are not stupid and fully understand the adage of ‘for things to remain the same, everything must change’.

Britain, an early adopter of industrialisation and an avid explorer of the wider world has always embraced change. It also has a long history of immigration. The fact that so many British people are only dimly aware of this confirms the success of integration.

What I find most striking returning to Britain after more than three decades living overseas is how comfortable this country has become with what might be described as a new age of  cosmopolitanism, combining a long tradition of toleration with an openness to change.

The remnants of the old order flounder as they try to hold back the tide of change. They think it is clever to politicise the eating of avocados not to mention social reform that, for example, bars discrimination on grounds of age and also endorses same sex marriage. Most people, who would prefer something other than smashed avocado for breakfast and are quite happy to marry the opposite sex but see no reason to stop others heading in another direction.

Because an essential decency prevails there is no longer a groundswell yearning for the old days when it was safe to use racist language and shove homosexuals into jail.

The wrong side of history is an increasingly tough place to be as even the Reform party has discovered. Should, as seems likely, a defeated Conservative Party lurch to the extreme right, it too will rapidly learn what it’s like to stand on the sidelines. If they are happy out there with a gaggle of racists and other change deniers, good luck to them because in Britain’s tolerant society the right to stupidity is unlikely to be outlawed.