Small Town, Big Riot is available on BBC iPlayer
Small Town, Big Riot is an excellent two-part documentary which focuses on the reasons behind the Kirkby riot against the refugees in the summer of 2023.
The Kirkby riot was prompted by footage of a refugee asking for a teenage girl’s phone number. The far right manipulated this into a story of harassment, sexual abuse and paedophilia.
The programme is at times uncomfortable to watch because it gives space to racists and fascists. However, it does so to try and let the viewer understand how the far right has been actively trying to intervene in communities where refugees are housed in hotels.
It does not mention Llanelli in West Wales, where I was part of campaigning against far right and racist opposition to refugees. But everything said by those opposed to the Kirkby hotel was said in Llanelli after the plan to temporarily house refugees at Stradey Park Hotel was announced.
On the surface people talked about supposed pressures in the local economy and lack of consultation.
But underneath all that was talk of the male asylum seekers who were going to be a threat to “our” women and children.
The documentary shows how some people chose to believe social media lies and gross distortions. They looked to “independent media” rather than the distrusted mainstream media.
The documentary tries to explain why this is. Ultimately, it correctly puts the blame on decades of politicians telling us that refugees are a problem and the lack of a kickback against that narrative.
In Llanelli the politicians all chose to oppose the use of the hotel on economic grounds. Some of them complained about the far right. None of them said refugees were not a problem.
This summer, we saw what can only be classed as pogroms against the refugees, migrants and Muslims after the tragic events in Southport.
The task to build a mass anti-racist movement has never been so urgent.
