'Anti-immigration protest in High Wycombe is a failure'

The town square was gloriously empty with more counterdemonstrators than protesters.

As our journalist Eleanor Burleigh reported, the afternoon ended up turning into a bit of a singalong thanks to a brilliantly strategically-placed busker. It is quite hard to get riled up against the soundtrack of Louis Armstrong, it turns out. 

The scene in Wycombe was a tonic to the events seen elsewhere in the country in recent weeks, where racist thugs have attacked police officers, trashed hotels housing asylum seekers and sought to bring division between communities around the UK.

For too long, immigration has sickeningly been used as a political football designed to whip up hatred between people from different backgrounds.

But to borrow a famous quote, love always wins.

The truth is that despite the efforts of a small minority of angry people - and unhelpful sections of the wider mainstream press - the majority of people are sensible, kind and understanding.

And want to live in a world that is respectful and kind, not filled with anger and fear.

It is not racist to have questions about the government’s immigration policy and to wonder whether or not it is working. And it is not racist to have worries about criminal checks of those who are moving to this country.

But as reasonable people will know, there is a time and a place to debate and discuss such matters and appropriate forums for have such debates.

And nothing in the scenes at Southport, Sunderland or Middleborough give the indication than it was anything other than a thug’s prerogative to have a mid-week brawl.

On Wednesday night, fears of further far-right protests failed to materialise. Huge counter-protests were seen in Brighton, Bristol and Southampton.

Let’s hope this country has turned a corner – and taken a leaf out of our town’s book. Where a melting pot of communities live side-by-side peacefully