Andy Burnham Must Lead Labour's Fightback Against Rising Anti-Migrant Extremism and Racism
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/pollytoynbee. "There is a racism and cohesion crisis in Britain, and someone needs to lead us out of it. His name is Andy Burnham | Polly Toynbee | The Guardian." September 22, 2026. www.theguardian.com
The Gist
Polly Toynbee argues that Britain has a serious problem with rising racism and anti-immigrant extremism, and that new Labour leader Andy Burnham is the right person to tackle it head-on in his upcoming conference speech. She believes he has unique credibility as a northern politician to speak against hate without being dismissed as 'woke,' and that doing so is both morally necessary and politically smart.
Conclusion
Andy Burnham, as new Labour leader, must use his conference speech to actively confront and lead a fightback against rising anti-migrant neofascism and racism, rather than remaining ambivalent like his predecessors.
Premises
- Anti-migration neofascism is more threatening now than at any point in the author's lifetime, with shock tactics from extremist groups bleeding into mainstream discourse.
- Mainstream politicians, including Labour under Starmer, have responded weakly and ambivalently to aggressive nationalist protesters and asylum hotel demonstrators.
- Right-wing media outlets (GB News, the Mail, the Telegraph, X) amplify hateful rhetoric daily, normalizing extremism.
- The 'cordon sanitaire' that once separated democratic politics from far-right ethno-nationalism has collapsed, per expert testimony from Hope Not Hate's Nick Lowles.
- Concrete harms are already occurring: RNLI volunteers threatened, a Somali-British council leader facing racist abuse, Rishi Sunak having to publicly defend his Britishness.
- Polling shows dangerous trends (37% of young men favorably view Tommy Robinson) while also showing hope (53% of Britons value multicultural communities), suggesting the public is persuadable.
- Burnham, as a northern leader immune to 'woke' branding, has unique credibility to speak plainly against racism to traditional Labour/'red wall' voters.
Assumptions
- A single leader's rhetoric and speech can meaningfully shift a national cultural crisis around racism and extremism.
- Burnham possesses the specific credibility and political skill needed to reach audiences other Labour figures cannot.
- Standing firm against racism and separating it from immigration policy is both morally right and politically viable for Labour.
- The majority of Britons who express tolerance in polls represent a persuadable 'silent majority' that can be mobilized against extremism.
- Community-level interventions (like Hope Not Hate's work) and top-level political leadership are complementary and mutually reinforcing.
- Explicitly calling out racism and defending multiculturalism will not backfire by further inflaming Reform/right-wing populist sentiment.