United against hate: lessons from the far-right riots in England

Alex Ardalan-Raikes MBE serves as the Director of Stand Against Racism & Inequality (SARI), a Bristol-based charity dedicated to supporting victims of hate within the local community and beyond. Under her leadership, SARI assists over 900 victims of hate crimes annually. The organisation also delivers training, restorative justice programmes, youth offender rehabilitation initiatives, and expert consultancy on equality and antiracism strategies. Alex and her team played a crucial role in responding to the unprecedented far-right riots that erupted across England between 30 July and 5 August 2024. Triggered by a tragic mass stabbing in Southport on 29 July, where three children lost their lives, false claims propagated by far-right groups fuelled the unrest. Misinformation that the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker escalated Islamophobic, racist, and anti-immigrant sentiments, culminating in the largest wave of racist violence, arson, and looting seen in England since the riots of 2011. In this interview, conducted in November 2024, Alex sits down with Justice, Power and Resistance journal co-editor Nasrul Ismail to discuss the challenges, strategies, and lessons from this critical moment in her advocacy against hate.