Thetford is in the grip of racist disorder. For three nights crowds have targeted homes they believe are being used to accommodate asylum seekers. People have tried to force their way into properties and asylum seekers have had to be taken away for their own safety. Police have been hit with rocks, bitten and spat at. One man has been arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred. Residents say a list of supposed asylum accommodation addresses was circulated on a local Facebook group before being deleted.
People being targeted in their homes does not come from nowhere. Reform UK has spent years dragging British politics to the right over immigration. Just last week Nigel Farage was again declaring, “The invasion continues”. Earlier this year Reform’s Zia Yusuf repeatedly described migration as an “invasion” while setting out plans for mass deportations. And as opposition to RAF Barnham grew, Farage said people living near the proposed asylum site were “very worried and very scared”.
Reform now has enormous political weight in Norfolk. In May it won 40 of the 84 seats on Norfolk County Council and 31.2 percent of the vote, becoming by far its largest party. Then in July Reform candidate Colin Sutton won the election for Norfolk Police and Crime Commissioner. Reform county councillor Scott Hussey was repeatedly present around events and supplied photographs or video used by ITV, including material from Tuesday night. Reports quote him characterising what he witnessed as “spirited” but peaceful, while police accounts of the wider sequence describe attempted entry to homes, property damage and assaults on officers. Reform does not have to organise a racist riot for its politics to shape what happens on the streets. It has helped make the idea that migrants are an invading force, imposed on “our communities”, into everyday political currency.
The agitation around nearby RAF Barnham shows how this process works. The government is considering turning the former military site into asylum accommodation. Protests at the gates have operated under the slogan “Barnham Says No”.
But this is not simply a local protest. Outside right wing and far right agitators are already coming into Barnham. Sarah White, a prominent activist from the Epping anti-asylum protests, has already travelled to RAF Barnham and spoken at a protest. White said afterwards that it had been ‘an honour’ to be asked to speak outside the base.” The New Statesman quoted her saying of migrants, “They don’t integrate” and “They’re not evolved like us.”
Britain First was onto Barnham almost immediately. On 29 June the fascist organisation published a video boasting that its activists had visited RAF Barnham. Its headline described the people who might be housed there as “illegal immigrant invaders”. The organisation has also been active elsewhere in Norfolk, holding a so-called “March for Remigration” in Norwich in July.
And Britain First is not alone. Patriotic Alternative and Restore Britain have intervened in protests around Barnham and the other proposed military accommodation sites at Bicester and Wethersfield.
Rupert Lowe, the MP for nearby Great Yarmouth, has made RAF Barnham a major political campaign. He tabled a barrage of parliamentary questions asking about asylum seekers’ movements, surveillance, internet access, facilities, escorts and security at the site. He has also publicly backed the Barnham protesters and urged local Restore members to become involved. In that intervention Lowe described prospective asylum seekers as “third world men”, “conmen and scumbags” and told supporters to “keep these men away from British women and children”.
Restore itself shows how the ground opened up by Reform allows forces further to its right to grow. An investigation reported by The Times last month found neo-fascists, Hitler admirers and supporters of ethnic cleansing taking positions in local Restore networks. It reported that Steve Laws of the “Remigration Now” movement had explicitly encouraged followers to join Restore and obtain branch and candidate positions.
Thetford shows where that politics can lead. Once migrants stop being people and become “invaders”, “illegals” or hundreds of threatening foreign men, it becomes easier to decide that the house where one of them supposedly lives is itself a legitimate target.
Asylum seekers living in a terraced house did not cause any of the problems that working people face. Refugees did not sell council homes, run down the NHS, hold wages down or make landlords rich. Reform’s great political trick is to take all the insecurity produced by a rotten system and direct it against people with even less power.
Those smashing windows and trying to force their way into migrants’ homes have to be opposed. So do the outside far right agitators trying to turn Barnham into another national rallying point. But it is not enough to condemn the people throwing rocks while leaving untouched the politics that gives them confidence.
Worryingly similar far right forces are at work in Bicester pushing a dangerous racist narrative against people seeking asylum who may be forced to live in a mass camp on MOD land near Bicester. The same kind of dangerous racist ideas are freely circulated in their facebook group, where refugees and migrants are presented as a major threat to women and children. The events in Thetford are being presented as an acceptable and inevitable response by the campaign group supported by Reform. Known fascists are supporting the same campaign under the banner of Restore.
Reform has shared the flyer below to whip up the racist hysteria in Bicetser.
Anti-racists need to organise and mobilise to build resistance to the rising tide of racist hate. If you want to help email here
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Join Love Music Hate Racism at Notting Hill Carnival 2026
August 2026 marks the 60th anniversary of Notting Hill Carnival, taking place on 30–31 August. Love Music Hate Racism (LMHR) is partnering with the National Education Union (NEU), UNISON and Hotwax to party with a purpose and promote our antiracist message.
The 2026 float theme, "Road Make To Walk", commemorates the struggle to keep Carnival on the streets of Notting Hill in August 1976. Fifty years ago, members of the Caribbean community successfully resisted attempts by the police, local authorities and a small number of residents to move Carnival away from its home.
Come dance, celebrate and stand together with us as we honour the legacy of those who fought to keep Carnival alive.
SIGN UP
Ticket includes a special edition LMHR carnival t-shirt and refreshments throughout the parade.
Sunday 30th August - Monday 31st August
Notting Hill, London, W10
via Eventbrite
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/love-music-hate-racism-x-notting-hill-carnival-2026-tickets-1991760781113
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Join us to celebrate the diversity and rich culture of the city we love!
Invite your union or campaign group to support this show of unity against racism the far right in Black History Month. Email us here if you want to help build this event.
Timings to follow but you can expect a day of celebration!
Let's create a huge turnout to show that unity will triumph over hate and division.
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Organise Together: London Summit
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On 28 March, half a million people marched together against the far right
We’ve shown the country that the politics of hate do not speak for all of us.
But the local election results and the recent pogroms and racist riots in Belfast, Glasgow and Southampton are a wake-up call that our work is nowhere near done. Across the country, the far right is growing louder and more organised.
Those who push a message of racism and hate are getting more confident – and we will not stand back and watch it happen.
On Saturday 24 October, thousands of people will gather in London to organise, collaborate, and build the future together as part of two summits – North and South.
A space for organisers, campaigners, trade unionists, activists, creatives, educators, community leaders and local people to organise, collaborate and share strategies about how we stop the far right.
This is not a conference for people who sit back and listen.
It is a summit to build power and plan action.
Help us plan, organise and build together against the far right in local communities across the country.
Save the date and book your place.
Book seats on the Oxfordshire transport
Stay tuned for speaker announcements and more details soon.
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Electronic Against Hate - 29th October at the Bullingdon
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Let's party with a purpose - get early bird tickets here
This special Electronic Against Hate lineup that features two of the most exciting and provocative female electronic artists based in the UK.
Anglo-French avant garde electronic artist Julia-Sophie headlines the main room at The Bullingdon. Her debut album 'forgive too slow' combines traditional songwriting roots with experimental electronica — intimate vocals backed by warm analogue synths and precise drum machines. Influences range from New Wave to folk confessional to house to avant-garde 80s pop. The songs narrate a story of self-destruction, love, and loss. By the end, embers are still burning — but there is a sense of getting closer to something authentic. This promises to be a treat for Oxford music fans already aware of her talent and a joy for those who have not yet had the chance to catch her live show.
Esoteric electronic artist Maria Uzor will be performing tracks from her brand new album, 'Fantasyland' and bringing her restless energy to the stage. Her music lands like a pirate broadcast from a distant corner of the galaxy. Inspired by both dark and light, order and chaos, power and vulnerability, she blends genres into new worlds, mixing electro, trip-hop, proto-rave, bass, and techno to create a soundtrack for the outsider in search of dance floor epiphany.
Support comes from Manchester born Oxford based solo DIY electronic vocalist Octavia Freud. He writes sardonic, funny and emotionally charged songs about the relationships he has with friends, family and the state. Expect some new politically charged songs from his latest side project with producer i4M2 called The Complex.
Oxford based DJ Simplex returns to The Bullingdon with his high energy Jump up Jungle and DnB mix style to kick start the party with what promises to be a special evening of joy, celebration and resistance.
Oxford Love Music Hate Racism will provide their merchandise and information stall for the public to come and say hello and support the resistance against the rise of the far-right. All profits raised from the gig will go towards LMHR's community work promoting equality and fighting racism and fascism across the county.
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