Friday, August 21, 2026
Has racism and sexism become normalised in the UK?
Phillipson told the Guardians Politics Weekly Podcast that she was increasingly worried about how commonplace misogyny and racism had become, fuelled by online interactions and statements by politicians she said would not have been acceptable a few years ago.
They add that she accused senior MPs from Reform and the Conservatives of having made racist statements in recent years, and accused the police of not taking violence against women and girls seriously enough, saying:
“I worry that we are at kind of a ground zero in terms of attitudes around violence against women and girls. Things that not very long ago felt totally unacceptable are becoming normal. I think we’re seeing that in terms of attitudes towards women, and I think we see that in terms of attitudes around racism.
She accused the shadow justice secretary, Nick Timothy, and Reform’s economic spokesperson, Robert Jenrick, of having made racist statements in recent years.
Earlier this year, Timothy called Muslims praying in Trafalgar Square an “act of domination”, while Jenrick came under fire in October after the Guardian revealed he had complained he “didn’t see another white face” on a trip to an area of Birmingham.
“We’ve had pretty despicable things that the likes of Robert Jenrick have said in the past on his visit to Birmingham,” she said. “We had Nick Timothy, who said some appalling things about Muslim prayer.
“Apparently I’m calling him names when I say that’s racist. I think it is fundamentally racist because I don’t think he would say that about any other group.”
Some might argue that this is just a Labour politician engaging in the usual name-calling, but in my view Phillipson is right about the way some politicians are weaponising racism and sexism and, in doing so fuelling those attitudes elsewhere.
However, it doesn't help that Phillipson's own government is feeding those right wing tropes with official posters telling asylum seekers not to rape and spelling out that child abuse is a serious crime when there is no evidence violence against women and girls is higher amongst migrants and people seeking asylum than among the general population.
Judging by some of the social media responses to those posters they have succeeded in stirring up more of the prejudices the Minister is condemning in others.
