Ed Owen

Consider this. A black man is walking down a London street when he is set on by a gang of white, knife-wielding thugs shouting racist abuse. He is stabbed and bleeds to death. It is particularly cruel murder precisely because it is motivated by a hatred of one community or race in our society.

In the wake of such a brutal attack, who would suggest that the blame lay with this poor man's colour rather than with the evil intent of the thugs who carried it out? And who would seek to "understand" it by claiming that the immigration policies of previous British governments had somehow "provoked" these racists?

Yet this is the confused logic of those who appear determined to justify the appalling events we have witnessed. All peoples and communities must stand together in support of democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Britain and abroad. Those values will always win out.