London Diary: Far-right uses AI images to spread anti-immigrant hate

As the British version of MAGA gathers momentum, it has emerged that anti-immigration protests in Britain—targeting Muslims, mainly—are being whipped up by fake, AI-generated images depicting Muslims taking over the country. This, according to research published by MPs.

A study of social media posts linked to far-right accounts responsible for organising the summer riots—following the Southport stabbing of three girls in July 2025—found a stream of AI-generated images that reinforced crude stereotypes.

These included images portraying Muslims as dirty and Muslim men holding guns or with bombs strapped to their chests. After the protests, TikTok was forced to remove one of these videos for breaching rules on hate speech.

Last week, the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee published research submitted as part of its inquiry into new forms of extremism. This revealed that AI-generated images and AI-driven algorithms amplified misinformation spread by far-right radicals.

Algorithms used by social media platforms, such as TikTok and X, promoted posts designed to drive hatred. A study of 622 posts by the London School of Economics showed that those containing visual representations of racist conspiracy theories were amplified about 30 per cent more than other posts.

The study focused on posts from the far-right party Britain First and Europe Invasion, a media outlet that promotes racist conspiracy theories. In one fake image, a woman in an England football shirt is shown crying outside parliament, surrounded by jeering Muslim men.

In another, a French woman weeps beneath the Eiffel Tower, surrounded by Muslim men with rubbish scattered all around. Researchers said “biases” embedded in the systems “consistently reproduce harmful stereotypes, associating black, brown and Muslim people with criminality and deception, while portraying white Western individuals as morally superior”.

The government has not responded to calls for a more stringent regulatory framework for social media.

Labour MPs compelled Starmer to recognise Palestine

The real credit for the British government’s recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state goes not so much to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s great statesmanship but to the large swathes of Labour supporters, especially Muslims and Palestinian expats, who literally forced him to take the plunge after dragging his feet for months.

Several of his own MPs and ministers including home secretary Shabana Mahmood were in the forefront of the campaign for a tougher line against Israel amid criticism of his wishy-washy diplomatic dance.

More than half the parliamentary Labour Party signed a letter demanding the government immediately recognise a Palestinian state; some MPs, including cabinet ministers, feared the issue could cost them their seats in the next elections.

In the last elections, the party lost at least half-a-dozen seats because of the backlash against his failure to act decisively. “I would not underestimate the pressure on MPs from Muslim voters,” one Labour MP told the BBC. For many, the Palestinian question has become central to their sense of identity.

There was added international pressure after France announced its intention followed by Canada and Australia, each taking the view that recognition of a Palestinian state should be part of a broader peace process.

After this, Starmer was left with no excuse to keep sitting on the fence. To that extent, Starmer’s decision represents a big shift in British policy—and is indeed ‘historic’. Especially considering the move could equally alienate Jewish voters at a time of rising antisemitic attacks in the UK, which Starmer also nodded at in his statement.

‘Friends of the Earth’ finally headed by a person of colour

For the first time in its 54-year history, ‘Friends of the Earth’, one of Britain’s largest and oldest environmental groups, has a person of colour as its head. Asad Rehman’s parents came from the Indian subcontinent to join a growing army of factory workers back in the 1970s when racism was rife.

The son of a bus driver raised in Burnley, one of northern England’s most backward Asian ghettos, Rehman’s journey is a story of how much Britain has changed. And sadly, how much remains the same. Racism still dogs Britain in different forms.

An analysis by the Race Report campaign found environment and conservation groups were among the least diverse in the UK, with 4.5 per cent of their staff being non-white compared with 16 per cent in the working population overall. “It has been a fair critique,” said Rehman, while vowing to build a more diverse movement.

“If we want to be a force for change, you have to look like and be part of the fabric of this country,” he said, adding that the choice is between a “divisive, racist, dystopian future” and a “united, more coherent, cohesive society”.

One in, one out

An Indian man became the first illegal ‘boat’ migrant to be deported to France under the new ‘one in, one out’ deal as the British government stepped up efforts to deport failed asylum seekers.

Reacting to the deportation of the first migrant under the scheme, home secretary Shabana Mahmood stated, “This is an important first step to securing our borders… It sends a message to people crossing in small boats: if you enter the UK illegally, we will seek to remove you.”

Interestingly, unlike several other migrants, the unnamed Indian did not try to prevent his deportation by lodging any legal claims.

And finally, Reform Party leader Nigel Farage, who is aspiring to be Britain’s next prime minister, has a senior adviser, George Cottrell, who is a convicted fraudster and the author of a book titled, How to Launder Money!