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Preston’s long history of good community relations shows how cohesion has to be forged over generations.
That was the message from the man who compèred an anti-racism rally in the city on Saturday.
Isa Cole was speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) after leading the Preston United Against Fascism and Racism event, which saw more than a hundred people gather on Friargate North to hear speeches denouncing the riotous scenes recently witnessed up and down the country – and the sentiment underpinning them.
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He said the far-right violence that exploded up in the wake of the Southport stabbings was an “inevitable” outcome of the scapegoating of immigrants and those from minority backgrounds – and added that Preston could be a model for more troubled parts of the UK.
Isa, 53, said the fact the city was largely spared the flare-ups seen elsewhere was because members of different communities have long led intertwined lives.
“When I was growing up in the ‘70s and ‘80s, all our friends were mixed – so I think we [laid] a very good basis for later generations, because it was set in stone quite early on. We all know each other and now we all know each other’s kids,” he explained during a break in a DJ set he moved on to after Saturday afternoon’s demonstration.
“The people gathered around while I’m DJ-ing today are Asians, white people and black people – that’s just standard for us in Preston,” said Isa, who is a member of the city’s Windrush and Muslim communities.
However, he believes the riots were an “inevitable” outcome of anti-immigrant rhetoric, which he says needs to be tackled head-on wherever it is found, including any pockets in Preston.
“The last week was a manifestation of what’s been going on now for decades. Throughout history, we’ve seen it every single time that people [face] times of hardship – they turn on minorities.
“Successive governments, media outlets and those agent provocateurs who are out there…stir this up.
“People talk about immigration as being their number one issue in surveys. But as soon as they are asked, ‘What is the number one issue that affects you?’ – they go on to talk about the NHS, housing, and the cost of living. None of them actually say immigration affects them.
“There is an issue of education – a lot of people are just believing things they are [seeing] online and they don’t fully understand the situation. We do need to start having those conversations, because we can’t just silence these people – we’ve got to bring them back into the fold.”
Meanwhile, Pete Bollington, secretary of the Lancashire association of Trades Union Councils (TUCs), said the Friargate gathering was “heartening” after 10 days of trouble nationwide.
“It was [good] to see decent people show up in rejection of what’s happened over the last week or two – and it was absolutely right that we should come out and say [the rioters] don’t represent the majority of people.”
“[Those] who have caused the destruction and [carried out] attacks on emergency services and retail workers don’t represent anything other than a narrow minded racism,” said Pete, who was one of the speakers at Saturday’s event.
Organiser Michael Lavalette added that it felt good for those in the majority to be able to feel as though they were “back in control”.
“People who were walking by were very complimentary – and some of the businesses even brought food out to us. I’ve never had that [at an event like this] before,” he said.
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