Comedy versus Bigotry - the Myths of Muslamic Law

It is painful to watch - an interview by Press TV, the Iranian Government-funded British news station, with a young man about to attend a march by the rightwing street organisation the English Defence League. Rehashing a smattering of prejudices and myths about "Muslamic law" taking over Britain and rape camps supposedly set up by Muslims, he declares that "Iraqi law" is being imposed in London as it apparently has been elsewhere, although he can name neither the laws nor the places concerned. So he is going to march because the wants "Britain to be about British."

An enterprising anti-EDL activist has taken the man's words and with the use of the latest in vocal manipulation technology has fashioned a satirical song, Muslamic Rayguns, which may be more than a little too catchy for its own good. It is a classic example of using comedy to counter bigotry, to emphasise the intellectually barren argument and lies employed by racists. For example, last year, a myth was put round that the police were arresting people for flying England flags in the run up to the World Cup for fear of offending Muslims. It was hokum, of course, just as are all the stories about banned Christmas trees and the utter lies about Winterval festivals replacing Yuletide (even inventing a story that the Pope had condemned them when he had made no mention of these completely fictitious events). However, not to be deterred by the truth, one enterprising racist dressed up in a police-like uniform and went round various streets in Worksop warning people to take their flags down and take their team shirts off.

And yet the media gleefully reinforce the Winterval stories (and even Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has lied about the need to stop them - when they don't exist and never did!), while no one made anything of the very real story about the fake policeman last year. Consequently, people like the young man in the video end up feeling angry and confused.

It is of course the tried and tested tactic of "divide and rule". As he calls for "Britain to be about British", the EDL marcher is yet another example of how whole swathes of people are disenfranchised and disenchanted. The TV interviewer says, more than a touch sarcastically,"People are angry, but can't explain why."

Lies about lies - a fictitious story about a fictitious issue

The reason they can't explain is pretty straightforward - they are isolated from opportunity in a society which is less socially mobile than ever before; where the gap between rich and poor is wider than it has been for over a century and is simply getting worse; and the newspapers feed a constant diet of sensationalist and untrue stories about hordes of illegal immigrants supposedly sucking up the nation's wealth. It is only a short step from there for them to identify and target their wrath on those they see as belonging to such groups - Asians, especially Muslims, and others deemed to be the cause of their poor treatment by society.

But set the white man in the video alongside an Asian man of a similar age and the chances are they will have a lot in common - poor housing, few job opportunities, low incomes and stereotypical hostility from the media. The media owners' biggest fear of all is not that these men are potentially in conflict with each other - rather it is that they ever find out just how much they share and turn together to face the bastions of privilege and wealth that are the real barriers to them achieving fairer and happier.lives.

But until the Left can persuade them otherwise, we need to resist utterly the menace and real violence that the would be patriots of the EDL and similar bring with them as they parade the streets and hurl abuse and punches at those they see getting in their way. They've been to our multi-racial town twice this year and say they will be back soon, fuelled by lurid tales about "no go" areas for white people - yet another lie as I know only too well. But don't expect the Daily Mail to let that get in the way of a story that sells and keeps people down and divided.