Those people in the hotel in Rotherham must have been absolutely terrified. Sure, there may well be “economic migrants” among them, but I bet you a bunch have fled war zones, survived all sorts of horrors on the journey that cost the lives of many others. And they arrive in the Civilized West (1) and look out the window at ballied up young men with clear violent intent in their hearts and bricks in their hands.
It will be easy over the coming days and weeks to get distracted – “our” “political” “culture” after all specialises in distraction (2), but it would be good to try to hang on to some inkling of that fear, that terror, and remember what is at stake for them, and for all of us.
Quickly, because a) I am supposed to be finishing some overdue work and b) nobody is reading this
Where does this come from?
It will be easy to get caught up in stuff about fake news/weaponised algorithmic disinformation (WAD?) and the use of the murders of three young girls in Southport to whip up hate. It will be easy to point to both “austerity” and fourteen years of Blue Tory rule as perceived “root” causes. It will be easy to talk about deindustrialisation and hopelessness (3). It will be easy to point to the truth that racism and nativism is a very handy way for oppressive elites to divide and conquer, to redirect rage so that people punch down rather than up.
There will be think pieces in the LRB and so on about the long duree, of Europe’s relative decline, of surplus populations who do not produce, consume or fight in Big Wars (some might draw on Zygmunt Bauman). There will be intra-left debates over who counts as working class, and the condescension of middle-class pundits. Acres of newsprint, pounds of electrons, gallons of ink. Some of it may even be worth your time, but probably not.
Who is to blame?
Plenty of blame for Space Karen, letting Tommy/Stephen back on the hellsite. Nige and Richard. Rishi and Suella. Tony and Gordon. Etc. Not so many will look at the “left” and noble “anti-racists” and go beyond the “but we are outspent and there are nasty laws” explanations. While it is absolutely true that these explanations have some power, they also enable us/them not to reflect on how things could have been done better, how they could be done better. “Not everything that can be faced can be changed” and all that…
What is to be done?
Oh, practical solidarity (scary, difficult, inconveniencing). Keeping informed, fwiw. Learning from history (there are smart people out there doing this reflecting, whose voices need amplifying.)
And remembering the terror of those people in the hotel, and the other hotels, and the terror for ordinary people of colour, trying to live their lives in this country in the backwash of all this.
Footnotes
(1) Poe’s law and all that – this is IRONY.
(2) Haven’t they all, always? I don’t know.
(3) Hope for what? A topic for another day…
marchudson.net 
Marc, all the factors you have mentioned do contribute to the peoples unrest, which is world wide and increasing. But the core and unmentionable factor is GROWTH, until WE curb GROWTH in all it’s facets, the peoples unrest will increase.