Readers have responded to a recent article by Jonathan Liew, warning that Britain is becoming increasingly racist and intolerant. The letters, published in response to Liew's piece on the toxic immigration debate, express deep concern over the normalisation of far-right rhetoric and the growing acceptance of xenophobia.
One reader, the son of Caribbean immigrants, described feeling scared that a government led by Nigel Farage would pursue large-scale repatriation. He said the UK has seen a growing tolerance of racism, which he called 'the recooked racism of Enoch Powell and the National Front'. Another reader, who grew up with a Polish father in the 1950s and 1960s, noted that while she once thought Britain had become more tolerant, Brexit in 2016 led to a 'shameful return of open racism'.
A white reader married to an Indian immigrant in Lincolnshire said the rise of parties like Reform UK and the Homeland party, with its policy of 'remigration', has brought 'rising terror' for her family. She called for stronger opposition to such policies.
The letters echo Liew's warning that a hostile environment spreads into daily life, encouraging cruelty and suspicion, and making racial abuse easier to excuse. As one reader put it, the question is: 'what kind of country will we become and who will have the courage to say “enough” before it is too late?'
