How to Defeat the Far Right: Lessons From Hope Not Hate

‘A brilliant and challenging book’ GORDON BROWN

From the founder of Britain’s leading antifascist organisation, HOPE not hate, this is an urgent call to resist the forces of extremism on the march in Western societies – and how to go about it.

If you’re shocked and disconcerted by the rise of intolerance and hate, you’re not alone.

Drawing from 35 years of campaigning and journalism, Nick Lowles shows how anti-immigration, antisemitic and Islamophobic attacks have proliferated in the modern world, and how Britain – with the likes of Tommy Robinson and the growth of Reform UK – has been far from immune from far-right politics.

From HOPE not hate’s pioneering campaigns against the BNP in east London to the impact of the ‘manosphere’ and the issues in Netflix's Adolescence; from explorations of the pernicious influence of ‘race science’ and conspiracy theory to the interplay of deprivation and intolerance in Britain’s deindustrialised towns, Lowles entwines his inspirational story with hard-won lessons from decades of activism.

His conclusions – which do not shy away from awkward truths for campaigners – suggest practical ways for the far right to be defeated. And he shares powerful examples – from a participant-led youth club in Hull to Syrian refugees connecting with local people over falafel in Bradford – of finding the joy in showing that, hard as it can seem, HOPE can triumph over hate.

Nick Lowles MBE is the founder and Chief Executive of HOPE Not Hate, an advocacy group based in the United Kingdom which campaigns against racism and fascism and emerged from the anti-fascist magazine Searchlight. Nick’s mum arrived from Mauritius in 1961 and he grew up in Hounslow before the family moved to Shrewsbury at the age of 10. Having experienced street racism as a child, Lowles got involved with the anti-fascist movement as a student volunteer at Sheffield University. He was previously a freelance investigative journalist, working in television, including on BBC Panorama, World in Action, Channel Four Dispatches and MacIntyre Undercover. Between 1999 and 2011 Lowles was co-editor, and then editor, of Searchlight magazine. He was awarded an MBE in 2016 for his services in tackling extremism. He can be found on X as @lowles_nick