And what about people who don’t agree with everything Morrissey says but don’t think he’s racist? I’d include myself in that group. I wouldn’t give For Britain my vote, but I don’t think the ideas expressed in their manifesto are racist. I just think they’re wrong.
Most people would agree that Islamic extremism is a threat to our personal safety. It might not be the biggest threat -- I happen to think a system that simultaneously creates rampant poverty and demonises the poor is a bigger threat -- but it is a very real threat. The 23 people shredded to death and 500 injured in Manchester on 22nd May 2017 are proof of that.
I just don’t think clamping-down on ‘Islamic immigration’ is the answer. It’s an answer, and not a racist one. In many ways it’s eminently practical. I just think it would create more disenfranchisement among the existing Muslim population and create more opportunities for radicalisation. Don’t get me wrong, it’s precisely the kind of answer (probably the only answer) that appeals to racists, just as For Britain will undoubtedly attract racists. It's an unpleasant solution, a miserable solution certain to create unhappiness, and I don't like it. But that doesn't make it racist.
My preferred solution is to engage with progressive Muslim groups here in the UK and, in the long term, dramatically adjust our disastrous foreign policy. I suspect those on the right will see this as wishy-washy and doomed to failure. They could very well be correct. I could very well be proposing a solution that has less to do with solving the problem and everything to do with making me feel like a good person. I could very well be guilty of letting my heart rule my head and indulging in the worst kind of intellectual dishonesty. I suspect I need to keep thinking about this, the opposite of which is shouting ‘Racist c***! Don’t you like brown people?’ at everyone who disagrees with me.