The Hypocrisy of Together Alliance That Unites Islamist Extremists to Oppose the “Far Right”

The Together Alliance is so worried about the far Right that it has organised a mass demonstration to show… what exactly? That its “hundreds of civil society organisation” don’t like the far Right. We could have hoped for one of the organisers to have checked in with reality where they would find that the far Right has not had any success at local elections since the BNP in Dagenham and Barking, 16 years ago. But the reality of democratic politics is not their thing – it’s really all much more about ‘the vibes’.

The website carries messages from an Elliot from Pembrokeshire who says “I understand history – I want the future to be bright and full of hope!” Or Natasha from Huddersfield who says she felt sick listening to “friends and family who felt personally targeted by ‘the message’ they saw in those flags”. Heartfelt, no doubt. But one would have hoped for some signs of empathy for Britain’s Jews who clearly face far more hateful things than flags, and have done so long before the recent sickening attacks on the ambulances run by the Hatzola charity in Golders Green.

If Together Alliance understood history, and was really concerned with social unity, it might have gone out of its way to invite, for example, the Campaign Against Antisemitism or Tell Mama to support its event. These are voices who have been openly critical of Islamism, and they would have added diversity of political viewpoint to a supporter list that is somewhat lacking in political variety to say the least.  Organisations like the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), which was described in a UK government review as “the Muslim Brotherhood in the UK” with links to European branches of the Brotherhood, are clearly welcomed. The Muslim Brotherhood, according to the same review, also played a formative role in the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), also a listed supporter, as is Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND). MEND is listed as an Islamist organisation of concern in a 2024 government research paper, along with far Right groups such as Patriotic Alliance. Lest anyone is still naïve enough to think that these groups represent all Muslims who are oppressed, they should consider the views of non-conformist Muslims who resent fundamentalist being regarded as respectable representatives. Patriotic Alliance would of course not be welcome, but why then are the Islamist extremist groups?

It seems that extremism is not a problem as long as you espouse an anti-patriotic, anti-Western ideology. If these boxes are ticked, you can expect to be endorsed by those with cultural and political influence. Anti-Reform (a Facebook page) and the UnReformed Times (no information available online) are also listed as supporters. This rather gives the game away. Together Alliance is not about uniting people around bland kumbaya slogans: it is about constructing a cordon sanitàire around populist political opinions. It is about legitimising and protecting those who hold elitist, anti-populist views while delegitimising the views of others as “far Right”.

The fact that this new elite ideology of the technocratically-minded political class and its allies in culture is presented through old-style Left groups and language only shows how irrelevant the traditional Left has become. So much so that it is willing to join in the contempt-fest towards its traditional base, the working class (plural in ethnicity and religion) which happens to love its country. Yes the flags can represent different things to different people who put them up and who see them. Some may be motivated by prejudiced exclusion, others by love and pride of country. The latter, the majority, are fed up with not only their diminished political representation but also of decades-long socio-cultural stigmatisation as governments have tried to socially engineer them into Guardianista type citizens.

At at time characterised by political flux at the geopolitical as well as national level, it is more important than ever to uphold a public space where all opinions can be discussed, ridiculed, rebutted, refuted, refined, dropped or changed. This – otherwise known as democratic debate – cannot happen if those who do not hate their country or think British history is the fount of all evil believe that to voice their view risks being associated with the far Right and unworthy of tolerance, or indeed respect. Together Alliance and other similar organisations warn us about those stoking fear and division: they should take a look in the mirror.

Dr Alka Sehgal Cuthbert, the Director of Don’t Divide Us, is an academic and writer.