My statement following the far-right violence in Liverpool

We musn’t forget that there are families, friends and loved ones grieving the loss of 3 little girls: Bebe, Alice and Elsie. Last week the far-right hijacked the grieving and mourning of these families and the community to create hate and division. Capitalising on this tragedy has shown the very worst of our society.

Last night, the counter protest to protect one of our local charities working with refugees Liverpool sent a very strong message to the far right: the demonstration of unity and solidarity epitomises what our city stands for, not the violent disorder we witnessed over the weekend. It makes me proud to be a Scouser.

This last week racist, violent mobs took to the streets to attack Muslims and visible minorities. They targeted mosques and set fire to hotels housing asylum seekers, with people afraid to come out on the streets.

This has not happened in a vacuum. The racist rhetoric and narratives peddled by politicians and the media demonising Black people, Muslims, migrants and refugees together with the disinformation on social media has contributed to the far-right extremism witnessed on our streets since last week.

The language of fascism has moved from the streets to Parliament: a newly elected Reform MP using social media platforms to blame and scapegoat migrants and refugees for the collapse of our public services and living standards. Dog-whistle politics has normalised hate and sown the seeds for the violence we are witnessing today.

Those calling asylum seekers an ‘invasion’ or naming hotels where they are staying and calling for migrants and refugees to be sent back to where they came from must bear responsibility for the impact of their words.

The only way to combat the hatred and division of the far right is to do what we did last night - demonstrate our unity and solidarity and strength to reclaim our streets. We will continue to come together as neighbours and communities until we drive the far right off our streets, we’ve done it before we’ll do it again.

Solidarity.