A year ago, towns across Britain were in flames as far-right anti-immigration protests turned into riots, while this week the Police Federation called recent protests in Epping a ‘signal flare’ for further unrest.
So with the number of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats actually up and social media – not to mention certain MPs – pumping out inflammatory comments, is another summer flare-up inevitable?
And how do the police , the politicians and the protesters themselves distinguish between the genuine concerns of dispossessed communities, and the gratuitous violence of far-right racists?
On this episode of The Fourcast, Jackie Long is joined by Sunder Katwala, director of the think-tank British Future which focuses on diversity and social inclusion, the academic Lisa McKenzie, who writes primarily about working-class communities and class inequality, and Adam Kelwick, imam of the UK’s oldest mosque in Liverpool who came to prominence during last year’s riots with his attempts at dialogue with protesters.