In Germany, it is a Brandmauer, a firewall. In France, it is the cordon sanitaire – a refusal by mainstream parties to do deals with the far right. That resolve has weakened in recent years, but naming the taboo still serves an important function. To invigilate the line where radical conservatism turns to ultranationalism, it is first necessary to say it exists.
That is not happening in Britain, as has become clear in the aftermath of Henry Nowak’s murder. The episode is disturbing. Police failed to recognise the severity of a young man’s stab wounds and, after being misled by a false claim that he had carried out a racist assault, briefly treated the dying victim as a suspect. However difficult and confused the scene was, this was a catastrophic outcome. It is right that every aspect of the case be thoroughly reviewed.
It is unclear to what extent that error is explained by guidance that encourages police to consider the “specific needs” of different ethnic groups to ensure “equality of policing outcomes”. But the issue is debated as if that were the obvious cause of Mr Nowak’s death. On the right, it has been treated as proof that the UK operates a two-tier justice system, so distorted by deference to minorities as to be racist against white people.
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, urged supporters to show “pure cold rage”. Stephen Yaxley‑Lennon, the far-right activist known as Tommy Robinson, claimed on X that Mr Nowak had been “murdered by racist police policy’s [sic] that target white people” and summoned a rally. The billionaire Elon Musk shared the post, showing how global agitators and online bubbles can turbocharge such incidents.
Hundreds turned up, leading to violent confrontations with police. The prime minister has called for calm and urged politicians to respect the plea by Mr Nowak’s father that his son’s murder not be used “to create further hatred, division or tension”. But powerful forces are mobilising for exactly that purpose.
The accusation of two-tier justice is just one theme in a campaign to reverse decades of liberal progress against systemic racism. The claim is that anti-racism is itself a repressive ideology that has captured politics and law enforcement. That is a grotesque inversion of the facts when it comes to institutional prejudice in the UK. But there is a constituency of white Britons whose frustration with stagnation and public decay can be radicalised with narratives of victimisation by an arrogant “woke” elite.
Competing for that audience has triggered a sinister arms race on the right. Mr Farage fears losing ground to Mr Yaxley-Lennon, and Rupert Lowe of Restore Britain, a fringe party with a growing profile. This toxic atmosphere underlines the need for a responsible political response. Sir Keir Starmer understands this and responded properly. Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative party leader, treads an awkward line. She rightly rejects Mr Farage’s inflammatory tone, but too often refuses to repudiate his warped analysis of the underlying issues.
This is how the boundary between mainstream conservatism and the far right is dismantled. Evidence-based policy gets crowded out of the arena by racially aggravated conspiracy theory. Mr Nowak’s terrible death should not be used to tell white Britons that they are victims of a criminal justice system stacked against them. That is a dangerous lie. Politicians who indulge it corrode the tolerance and pluralism on which British democracy depends.
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