I’m sitting in a shitty hotel bar in London, the kind of place that smells like regret and stale beer, watching the newsfeeds spew bile about “migrant hotels” and “concerned families” torching the streets. The UK’s on fire again, and not the fun kind with glitter and raves. No, this is the ugly kind, where people who’ve never met an asylum seeker clutch their pearls and scream about an “invasion.” And who’s pouring gasoline on this dumpster fire? The usual suspects: far-right blowhards like Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson, peddling lies so thick you could choke on them. Welcome to the UK, where truth is a casualty and division is the drug of choice.
Let’s get one thing straight: the riots outside places like the Bell Hotel in Epping aren’t about “protecting our girls” or “community concerns.” That’s the polished turd the far right’s been selling, and the mob’s buying it like it’s discount crack. The spark? An asylum seeker got arrested for alleged sexual assaults, and suddenly every migrant’s a predator, every hotel a den of vice. Never mind that court records show 211 people in asylum hotels were charged with 425 crimes this year – violent, sexual, theft, you name it. Sounds bad, right? Except there’s over 200 hotels housing thousands, and not every resident’s a criminal. But facts don’t matter when you’ve got Farage on TV, winking at “concerned families” while dodging the “far-right thug” label he’s so quick to pin on others.
Farage, that smirking suit with a pint in one hand and a dog whistle in the other, says he “understands” the anger. Understands? He’s been fanning it for years, preaching about “undocumented young males” from “cultures that treat women worse than cattle.” His words, not mine. He’s not out there throwing bottles at cop vans – oh no, he’s too posh for that – but he’s the guy whispering in the mob’s ear, telling them it’s okay to hate. And then there’s Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, the English Defence League’s poster boy, fresh from cooling his heels in a cell for contempt of court. This is the guy who thinks “Islam” is a four-letter word and whose rap sheet reads like a skinhead’s bucket list. He’s not just stoking division; he’s the match that lights it.
The far right’s lie is simple: migrants are the enemy, hotels are their fortress, and if you’re mad about your life – your job, your rent, your kid’s school – you should blame the brown guy in Room 204. It’s a con as old as dirt. Tell the desperate that their pain’s got a face, and make sure it’s not yours. Never mind that the real crooks are the ones cutting NHS funding, jacking up your bills, and letting corporations pick your pocket while you’re distracted by “migrant crime.” The Bell Hotel protests? They started peaceful, sure, but got hijacked by goons from the BNP, Britain First, and neo-Nazi outfits like Blood & Honour. These aren’t “families”; they’re organized hate with placards.
And don’t get me started on the hypocrisy. Farage cries about “civil disobedience on a vast scale” like he’s Nostradamus, but he’s the one who’s been preaching betrayal and fear since Brexit. He points at Antifa, says they’re the real problem, wearing balaclavas and “shooting gestures” at protests. Boo-fucking-hoo. Meanwhile, his fans are smashing police vans and terrorizing old ladies who dare counter-protest. Essex Police had to arrest ten people, with eight cops injured, because “concerned families” decided “deport foreign criminals” signs and smoke flares were the answer. Chief Constable Harrington’s out there begging for calm, but Farage’s too busy “understanding” the mob to care.
The truth? This ain’t about hotels or migrants. It’s about a country eating itself alive because people like Farage and Robinson make bank on division. They don’t solve problems; they point fingers. They don’t build; they burn. And the suckers who buy their lies? They’re not evil, just scared and fed up, looking for someone to blame. But when you’re chucking Molotovs at a hotel because you’ve been told it’s full of “rapists,” you’re not a hero. You’re a pawn in a game you don’t even understand.
So here’s my advice: stop swallowing the far-right’s poison. Next time you’re mad about a migrant hotel, ask why your taxes are paying for empty ones in Huddersfield while veterans sleep on the street. Ask why Farage’s Reform UK gets a pass for “dog-whistle racism” while Robinson gets jail for breaking the law. Ask why you’re fighting your neighbor instead of the suits who’ve been screwing you for decades. The truth is out there, but you won’t find it on X or in Farage’s smirk. You’ll find it in the ashes of your own city if you don’t wake up.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a bar to burn down with my tab.
– Spider Thompson, still kicking the truth in the teeth
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