Fanning the flames
UK riots , Issue 1630

THE week of serious rioting across England and Northern Ireland saw the Daily Mail desperately pointing the finger of blame in every direction but its own.

On 5 August, the morning after thugs in Rotherham had tried to set light to a hotel rumoured to be housing asylum seekers, the paper's front page took aim at "inflammatory online posts".

The Mail approvingly quoted former police and crime commissioner Festus Akinbusoye saying "misinformation and xenophobic narratives are wrong, irresponsible and dangerous. These actions are having real world consequences and the people spreading dangerous lies need to be brought to book."

Panic stations
Would that include, say, the paper which printed a spread declaring "NOTHING LESS THAN A COUP IS TAKING PLACE IN BRITAIN" in May 2023, illustrated with an enormous picture of a bloody knife, and was obliged to print a correction for its evidence-free claim that "the Rwanda deportation policy enjoys the support of the majority of the population"?

Or the 2021 online article headlined "British towns that are no-go areas for white people" which press watchdog Ipso ruled contained not a single "reference to a town or towns which were claimed to be off-limits to white people" and must be the subject of a front-page correction?

Or the 2018 feature headlined "POWDER KEG PARIS" which made such spectacularly incorrect claims about the number of illegal immigrants, jihadis and mosques in a French suburb that it got the area's name wrong, had to withdraw the article from its website and correct nine points of fact in print?

Because all this misinformation was spread by the Mail, a paper that has never shied away from inflammatory coverage of migration.

Chopping list
Tuesday brought further news that shocked the paper to its core. "Police have been warned of an alleged plan by far-Right yobs to hit dozens of immigration related targets across the country tomorrow night," it gasped. "A list of 39 immigration centres, services and solicitors' firms were posted on social media by a group linked to the disturbances in Southport last week."

And indeed, the list made shocking reading: it described "Left-wing lawyers and professional agitators" working on immigration issues as "parasites... they have blood on their hands" and snarled that "the acid of their self-righteousness is corroding our civilisation". Oh no, hang on, that was an opinion piece by Leo McKinstry in the Mail in May 2022.

Happy ending
But perhaps last week's shocking scenes have made the Mail change its ways. On Thursday morning, after peaceful anti-racism protesters took to the streets in vastly larger numbers than rioters, the paper greeted it as the "NIGHT ANTI-HATE MARCHERS FACED DOWN THE THUGS".

This was illustrated with a photo of a sea of people in Walthamstow in east London, brandishing banners issued by not just the Socialist Workers' Party, but the Revolutionary Communist Party too. It was, the paper declared, a "mass show of unity".

More top stories in the latest issue:

WILD WEST TALES
The Sun also declared itself shocked that anyone could be prompted into violence against asylum seekers – despite its own shady track record.

BORROWED TIMES
The Times activated some exciting chin-strokers to study the phenomenon of the far-right anti-immigrant riots – but the writers weren't Times staffers…

BADENOCH TIDINGS
Since Kemi Badenoch entered the Conservative leadership race, the Guardian has taken aim, publishing a number of hit pieces on her.

BRAT'S ENOUGH. ED.
"Brat" has emerged as the word of the summer, and media pundits and politicians alike are lining up to use it while they can.

SINGH'S GAMBIT
OpenDemocracy's outgoing CEO boasted of establishing "brilliant editorial leadership", which will have come as news to current and former staff.

HELLO! FOLLY
Eleven staff at royal and celeb mag Hello! have been told they are at risk of redundancy, as the struggles of the royal family take their toll.