Musk addressed the crowd via video link, making a series of ill-informed, inaccurate and deeply inflammatory statements that demonstrated wealth does not equate to intelligence or responsibility.

Musk’s intervention reflects a broader pattern. Investigations in recent years have exposed a well-funded global network of far-right individuals and organisations promoting misogyny. nationalism and racism. Their aim is to create conditions favourable to authoritarian governance, the reimposition of rigid gender and racial hierarchies and the continued concentration of wealth and power among elites. The influence of wealthy tech bosses such as Musk and Meta/Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg over key information platforms has become a particularly dangerous aspect of this ecosystem. Their control allows them to amplify far-right narratives, disinformation and hate speech at an unprecedented scale. This appears to have been one of the ways last year’s racist violence spread so quickly.

The political response has been alarming. Rather than condemning the racism on display, a government minister publicly praised participants for exercising their right to free speech. This reluctance to denounce fascist rhetoric reflects how the government has been fuelling racism and xenophobia by attempting to replicate far-right immigration policies. The Labour Party seems to believe that a diluted version of these policies can attract voters, a strategy that has repeatedly failed across Europe.

The government’s defence of free speech is highly selective. In recent months, authorities have arrested hundreds of people, many of them pensioners, for holding cardboard signs in support of Palestine Action, a direct action group recently banned under terrorism laws for damaging a military jet allegedly used in Israeli operations over Gaza. Criminalising peaceful protest while defending racist rallies exposes clear double standards. The Home Secretary has proposed granting police new powers to restrict repeated protests, a move targeted at Palestine solidarity demonstrations. Leaning ever further into a far-right agenda, she has also labelled those protests ‘anti-British’.

Police made several arrests in response to violence at the rally, and further prosecutions are expected. Yet the institutional response remains woefully inadequate. Racist attacks appear to be increasing, fuelled by the normalisation of far-right discourse in politics and the media. Whether law enforcement can address them effectively is uncertain, to say the least. The UK’s police forces have repeatedly been labelled as institutionally homophobic, misogynist and racist, allegations that have received official confirmation.

The dimensions of the rally reflect widespread discontent with the state of the UK. After 15 years of austerity, public services have been hollowed out: libraries and community and youth centres have closed, healthcare waiting lists are months or years long and real incomes and life expectancy are declining. Against this backdrop, policies introduced by the previous Conservative government, such as housing asylum seekers in hotels – often in small communities – seem almost designed to provoke anger. Coupled with media-driven moral panic over immigration, particularly people arriving in small boats across the English Channel, it has fed xenophobia and resentment. The scapegoating of migrants has become an easy political tool.

This does not mean racism is new or rare in the UK. It is deeply embedded in institutions and systems. But one reason for the growth in support for the far right is encouragement from politicians and the media.

Civil society’s response must begin at the grassroots. Beyond condemning hate speech and extremist rhetoric, we must address the real social and economic grievances driving this anger, including concerns about employment, housing and welfare. Charities and civil society organisations cannot solve these issues alone. What they can do is help expose the political choices behind them and support the advocacy and organising that helps create a more just and equal society.