The evolution of Britain’s extreme right
White nationalism has become more amorphous and more online
![collage in red, white, and black showing Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists, giving a Nazi salute on the left. On the right, Tommy Robinson speaks into a microphone. In the center, a group of people in hooded jackets and masks stand together. Background includes flags and splashes of red, with a police officer partially visible on the right.](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240810_BRD001.jpg)
THEY BROKE through the hotel doors soon after midday on August 4th. Around 700 far-right activists had gathered outside the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, a suburb in the deprived northern town of Rotherham, that morning. The mob chanted “get them out” and “burn it down” at asylum seekers housed inside and hurled chairs, planks and bricks at the police. Hotel staff erected barricades. One rioter started a fire in a doorway. It is remarkable no one was badly hurt.
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This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “The haters”
Britain August 10th 2024
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