London Diary: Hate comes to British classrooms

There is a rising tide of racism in British schools. Reports reveal that children as young as four have been found spewing hate against immigrants. Are classrooms the new breeding ground of the next generation of racists and xenophobes?

“Thousands of children were sent home from school for racism last year,” reported the Mirror, prompting calls for urgent action to curb it.

The mother of an 11-year-old boy reported him being bullied in school on account of his colour. “He gets so worried about what’s going to happen on Monday, that it ruins our whole weekend,” she said.

Campaigners have blamed the trend on the ‘normalisation’ of hate and bigotry in significant sections of British society fuelled by increasingly toxic political rhetoric against immigration. They say impressionable youngsters are repeating in the classroom what they hear from their parents at home and right-wing figures on TV.

In total, 11,619 children were suspended for racist behaviour in 2023 — up 25 per cent on the previous 12 months and equivalent to almost 60 suspensions a day. The figures are a “wake-up call”, according to Daniel Kebede, general-secretary of the National Education Union. “We have had years now of divisive, hateful language and negative, racist stereotypes from some politicians and in sections of the media,” he said.

Dr Shabna Begum, head of the Runnymede Trust, an anti-racism think-tank, said children and young people were simply articulating what they pick up. “It feels entirely predictable in this current climate. Recent years have seen media and politicians legitimise hateful language and violent policy that would once have been scorned,” she added.

This view was echoed by school teachers. One teacher and parenting expert said: “Too often, children pick up racist views from their parents and caregivers. Parents have a responsibility to instil positive values in their children and to teach them about tolerance.”

There are fears that things are only going to get worse amid reports of growing anti-semitism and Islamophobia stoked by the situation in the Middle East.

Labour warned: don’t take minority voters for granted

The Labour party has been warned that it can no longer take ethnic minority voters for granted, as those of Indian, Chinese and African backgrounds are moving to the right.

According to a nationwide poll, voting habits among Britain’s minority voters are increasingly ‘fragmented’. Labour’s loss of five seats to pro-Gaza independents in the July general elections shows the danger of treating non-white voters as a bloc.

Disagreement among minority groups over subjects such as the economy, welfare and the role of the state can be larger than the gap between white and non-white voters, it reveals, calling for a more nuanced understanding of political opinions.

Among Muslim voters from Asian backgrounds, Labour saw a 28 percentage point drop in support, thought to be linked to the conflict in Gaza.

James Kanagasooriam of Focaldata, which conducted the poll, said that Britain’s non-white citizens were deeply divided in their views, values and voting habits. “Ethnic minority opinion now spans the entire political spectrum. The political, social and economic values of British Indians and British Chinese voters and, to a lesser degree, black African voters, are structurally different from other minority groups — in particular British Caribbeans and British Muslims.”

A majority of both white and non-white voters describe Britain as a “great example of a multiracial democracy”.

Minority voters are more likely to be positive about diversity in government, with 51 per cent saying it is an encouraging sign of “real change” in Britain, compared with 38 per cent of white voters.

Alcohol-free Britain?

Whatever happened to good old Blighty where everyone had their very own ‘local’ (read favourite pub) and a pint after work was the thing to do?

Alas, no more. Pubs are closing down at the rate of at least one a week, and alcohol is no longer the flavour of the evening.

According to the campaign group Drinkaware, a third of Brits are choosing alcohol-free versions of their favourite tipples. Its latest survey says sales of non-alcoholic spirits, wines and beers are booming, with the UK market for the last category alone estimated to be worth £809.7 million.

The Financial Times reported that the ‘UK sales of low-alcohol beer increased more than in any other market in 2023’. Some 86 per cent of Brits, mostly health-conscious middle-class drinkers and millennials, are said to prefer an alcohol-free drink.

What’s going on?

No door-stoppers, please!

What do you prefer: a mystery yarn that goes on and on? Or a short and crisp whodunit?

Bestselling Scottish crime fiction writer Ian Rankin has criticised the trend towards writing long books. “I hate to say this because lots of my favourite writers write long books — but there is almost no necessity for a crime novel to be more than 300 pages. Once you’ve done the 300 pages you’ve pretty much done what you needed to do. The big books, I’m afraid, get put to the bottom of the reading list,” he said at the Cheltenham Literary Festival.

And, lastly...

...an incisive comment on the decline of integrity in British politics by historian and commentator Max Hastings: “We are not an important nation any more, but we can aspire to being seen to be run by honest men and women.”