Lord Sahota (Lab)

My Lords, I welcome this Bill because the integrity of our democracy is increasingly under threat, not only from foreign money and misinformation, but from politicians who deliberately seek to divide people by race, religion and immigration status. I want to concentrate on that wider democratic culture. I am particularly concerned about the direction in which Reform UK under Mr Nigel Farage is seeking to take our political debate. Mr Farage is perfectly entitled to argue for lower immigration and stronger borders. Those are legitimate subjects for a democratic debate. But there is a profound difference between debating immigration and repeatedly presenting immigrants and ethnic minorities as the explanation for everything that is wrong with our country. We saw a disturbing example of this in Southampton. Following the horrific murder of Henry Nowak, Mr Farage called upon British people to respond with what he described as “pure, cold rage”. He spoke of a two-tier culture and anti-white prejudice. Within hours there was serious disorder in Southampton, and some police officers were injured. Compare that rhetoric with the recent terrible tragedy near Middlesbrough. Seven people died: five young men travelling in a stolen car and two serving police officers. Every one of those deaths was a tragedy, and my heart goes out to all of their families. Imagine, though: had those five young men been from minority communities, Mr Farage’s reaction would have been very different—but he said nothing. Why? Because it did not fit his political narrative of demonising ethnic minority communities. Social media would have been flooded with claims about immigration, integration and the supposed failure of multicultural Britain. Crimes must be condemned whoever commits them and victims deserve justice regardless of their colour, but political outrage must not be switched on when the alleged offender belongs to one community and switched off when the circumstances do not fit a political story. That is not responsible leadership. History teaches us that democracy is rarely destroyed overnight but is weakened gradually. When minority communities become convenient scapegoats, when independent institutions are treated with contempt, when misinformation becomes the norm and when political leaders persuade voters that their neighbours are responsible for all their problems, then the foundation of democracy begins to decay. I make, with caution, a historical comparison: the language used by Reform’s leadership reminds me of the Europe of the 1930s. Racialised language is in danger of becoming normalised in our country. Social media has made the danger even greater. One provocative tweet from the world’s richest man can do untold damage to our community cohesion. That is why the Bill’s provision on political finance and electronic campaign material matters. Foreign money must not be allowed to buy British political influence. The Electoral Commission must be strengthened. Political parties must be required to know where their donations ultimately originate from. Immigrants and ethnic minorities are listening to this debate and some are asking themselves: if this rhetoric one day translated into government, what would happen to them? They are our neighbours, doctors, nurses and so on. Britain is their home. We must therefore defend not merely the machinery of democracy but its values: fairness, tolerance, truth and equality before the law. That is why I support the Bill and why I believe this House must remain vigilant against any politics that seeks electoral advantage by turning one group of British people against another.