Defying the divide and rule merchants

Back in 2020 when we were still living in Essex, as a result of our having a contact in the London borough of Hackney campaigning against Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs), I took a keen interest in the protests against the implementation of the LTNs in that borough: Labour and Conservative councillors clash following road closure protest - Ed Sheridan (LDR) | Hackney Citizen | 7.10.20.

What struck me when I was watching footage of the protests, was the sheer diversity of the people taking part in them. Yes, I know Hackney is a very diverse borough, but having a protest that represented a pretty much full section of Hackney residents was still noteworthy. The participants ranged from white working class, through Jewish and Muslim through to people of West Indian and African origin. 2020 was the year of a wave of Black Lives Matter protests across the country, and I remember the divide and rule merchants on all sides were doing their best to sow division and stir up conflict. Yet in Hackney, and other parts of London where LTNs were being implemented, there was a united, cross community current of opposition to them. Given how weird 2020 was with the ongoing lockdowns causing a considerable amount of tension and division, to see such a cross section of people united in their opposition to these LTNs was incredibly heartening.

A 2020 protest against the imposition of LTNs I the London borough of Hackney.

Fast forward to now when we’re working with Keep Bristol Moving, watching the opposition to the implementation of the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood (EBLN) and the threat of one across the south of Bristol. I’ve written more posts than I care to remember about the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood – this is the most recent one: The East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood saga rolls on... 12.12.24. There has been extensive coverage in the local media, mainstream and so called ‘independent’, with this somewhat biased piece being one of the more recent examples: ‘Illegal’ actions ‘making it impossible to install liveable neighbourhood safely’ - Martin Booth | B24/7 | 28.1.25. A lot of the opposition to the EBLN comes from the working class areas of Barton Hill and Lawrence Hill – both very diverse areas. Up in the leafier, whiter and gentrifying parts of Redfield, there’s more support for the EBLN. What has struck me about the protests and actions opposing the EBLN is, as with Hackney a few years ago, the diversity of the people taking part. This ranges from white working class through to the Somali community.

Residents opposed to the imposition of the EBLN confronting city councillors.

I’m not for one moment saying that either Hackney and Barton Hill are shining examples of communal harmony, because they’re not. Tensions do exist, that’s for sure. However, when push came to shove with the implementation of top down measures that many working class people didn’t want, those differences were forgotten as people united to fight what was being done to them.

A short while ago, I published this somewhat ranty piece: Getting on with it... 24.1.25. One of the points I was trying to get across was the need to build community solidarity. I hope this extract explains whet we mean by community solidarity:

When we talk about building a strong sense of community and belonging, we're not talking about a homogenous one where nothing ever changes. We're talking about a sense of community that recognises the variety of people that make it up. Regardless of where someone may have originally come from, if they live in a neighbourhood for any length of time, they're a part of that community, with the benefits and attendant responsibilities and obligations that go along with it. What we have to be alert to are the efforts of the divide and rule merchants on all sides who are sowing the seeds of division for their own nefarious purposes.

Above, I’ve cited two instances of people in a community from a wide range of backgrounds uniting in opposition to top down measure that would adversely impact them. In both instances, any differences between people and groups in the community have been put to one side in the name of unity. This is the kind of unity that the likes of Jordan Henderson and Simon Elmer making oh so clever and provocative arguments about immigration levels would put at risk: The Great Replacement: Conspiracy Theory or Immigration Policy? - Nevermore Media - 13.1.25.

As a bit of an aside, what kind of solutions are the likes of Henderson and Elmer proposing to deal with the levels of immigration they argue are a problem? Immigration can only be controlled by the state, if the political will is there. That would mean the election of a nativist political party to power and a co-operative, strong and ruthless state apparatus to do their bidding. Are Henderson and Elmer even thinking that this could be a solution? They’re probably not but, that’s where the logic of their argument could lead them. If that’s the case, then why have Nevermore published Henderson’s piece where Elmer is extensively quoted?

Please excuse me for banging on about Nevermore’s questionable editorial policy in light of their publication of Henderson’s piece but, there’s something quite vital at stake here. Namely the opportunity for a diverse working class community to mobilise as one in response to a threat to them. If the rhetoric about immigration continues to become ever more heated, it’s going to start to compromise the ability of working class people from a range of backgrounds to unite around a common cause and fight to win. That ability to unite, to me and many other like minded people, is something that’s precious and vital. If the rhetoric about immigration is allowed to sow further divisions in diverse communities such as Hackney and Barton Hill, then the powers that be will be having a field day, because people will be too busy getting at each others throats to be able to stop them screwing them over.

This is not a game, this is serious. Over and over, the powers that be have deployed divide and rule tactics that are aimed at getting us angry with each other, deflecting that anger from themselves. Immigration is one issue they’ve used to do this. That can include facilitating high levels of inward migration on the one hand while on the other, sections of the media are whipping up animosity towards immigrants. This leads to a situation where the powers that be create the ‘problem’ leading to social tensions that will eventually necessitate a tough response, a.k.a. the ‘solution’. One facilitated by a massive amount of digital technology as well as naked, brute force. Too many times, people have fallen for it. Is this really the future the likes of Henderson and Elmer want? It may well not be but, they’re unwittingly playing their role in bringing it about.

When so called ‘radicals’ and ‘critical thinkers’ start weighing in with their contrarianism and intellectual grandstanding, it makes the task of building unity in communities such as Hackney and Barton Hill harder than it needs to be. If the divide and rule merchants aren’t constantly challenged and are allowed to get away with pitting us at each others throats, we all lose in the fight to resist them imposing their dystopia upon us. I really don’t want to have to keep returning to this but, there’s too much at stake in terms of building solidarity in working class communities to stand by and let contrarians and intellectual grandstanders wreck what many good people at the grassroots are trying to achieve.