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How to Defeat the Far Right: Extremism is on the rise – HOPE not hate can stop it
‘A brilliant and challenging book’ GORDON BROWN
From the founder of Britain’s leading antifascist organisation, HOPE not hate, this is an urgent call to resist the forces of extremism on the march in Western societies – and how to go about it.
If you’re shocked and disconcerted by the rise of intolerance and hate, you’re not alone.
Drawing from 35 years of campaigning and journalism, Nick Lowles shows how anti-immigration, antisemitic and Islamophobic attacks have proliferated in the modern world, and how Britain – with the likes of Tommy Robinson and the growth of Reform UK – has been far from immune from far-right politics.
From HOPE not hate’s pioneering campaigns against the BNP in east London to the impact of the ‘manosphere’ and the issues in Netflix's Adolescence; from explorations of the pernicious influence of ‘race science’ and conspiracy theory to the interplay of deprivation and intolerance in Britain’s deindustrialised towns, Lowles entwines his inspirational story with hard-won lessons from decades of activism.
His conclusions – which do not shy away from awkward truths for campaigners – suggest practical ways for the far right to be defeated. And he shares powerful examples – from a participant-led youth club in Hull to Syrian refugees connecting with local people over falafel in Bradford – of finding the joy in showing that, hard as it can seem, HOPE can triumph over hate.
From the founder of Britain’s leading antifascist organisation, HOPE not hate, this is an urgent call to resist the forces of extremism on the march in Western societies – and how to go about it.
If you’re shocked and disconcerted by the rise of intolerance and hate, you’re not alone.
Drawing from 35 years of campaigning and journalism, Nick Lowles shows how anti-immigration, antisemitic and Islamophobic attacks have proliferated in the modern world, and how Britain – with the likes of Tommy Robinson and the growth of Reform UK – has been far from immune from far-right politics.
From HOPE not hate’s pioneering campaigns against the BNP in east London to the impact of the ‘manosphere’ and the issues in Netflix's Adolescence; from explorations of the pernicious influence of ‘race science’ and conspiracy theory to the interplay of deprivation and intolerance in Britain’s deindustrialised towns, Lowles entwines his inspirational story with hard-won lessons from decades of activism.
His conclusions – which do not shy away from awkward truths for campaigners – suggest practical ways for the far right to be defeated. And he shares powerful examples – from a participant-led youth club in Hull to Syrian refugees connecting with local people over falafel in Bradford – of finding the joy in showing that, hard as it can seem, HOPE can triumph over hate.
298 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 25, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 1, 2025
Very thought provoking. It’s making me consider what more I can do at community level to help build resilience to the far right. A reminder of the need for optimism in the anti fascist movement and celebrating the wins.
November 13, 2025
Let me first start by stating my credentials: I live in a deprived area which is predominantly working class, and I am a member of several community organisations that are doing the work that Lowles is advocating for in this book. My point is that I am not criticising from the sidelines.
I should also clarify that I agree with far more of what is said in this book than I disagree with. In fact the 3 stars I have awarded this book comes from the following 3 chapters: Tackling Taboo Issues, Civic Pride, and Young Angry Men. These chapters offer actual insight into the current climate as well as places where the Left is failing to counter the Right, and how it could make up that difference. The rest of this book failed to discuss what *Hope not Hate* (HNH) did in its conception to build their movement, and instead started in the middle as an established organisation with credibility and reach.
On the website it states that HNH is "proven to be the most effective international anti-fascist organisation out there."
And to that I say:
I was probably hasty when I called Lowles a centrist, but he definitely isn't a leftist. There is no greater proof of this than the fact he accepted an MBE (award bestowed by the Royal Family for exceptional contributions to community), and never once has he suggested...oh I don't know...taxing them? Dissolving them entirely and redistributing the money they hoard to the communities he claims to want to help? I mean, this book at times felt like Lowles doing a victory lap, or like he were a child pulling the trouser leg of of King Charles going *Daddy, daddy, please give me attention, please give me a knighthood daddy, look at all the nice things i've done daddy.*
The first half of this book is spent recounting what I assume Lowles feels are his glory days, in keeping the BNP (British National Party, far right) out of of government, and for the most part, he succeeded.
But he didn't do it alone.
HNH did not invent community organising. Women's groups, religious groups, libraries, community kitchens etc have been doing the work for YEARS. What truly astounded me about this book, is the bare crumbs of credit Lowles offers to any organisation other than HNH for defeating far right candidates. By his own admission, HNH is there to 'support' existing community infrastructure and not to 'evangelise' (though I'd argue he does this anyway), and yet he consistently gives 100% of the credit to himself and his organisation.
The irony in crediting himself with the 'defeat of the BNP' is that he didn't fucking defeat it! Fascism is an insidious beast, and like it always does when it is rejected, is crawls into the shadows to lick its wounds and then rebrands under a different name (in this case, the name was *Nigel Farage*). He cut off one head, and three more grew back. Lowles then turned around and credited HNH with defeating UKIP; a party headed by Nigel Farage that ran on the single issue of Brexit. And again, Lowles says that their work 'exposing' the tactics of UKIP and what terrible people they were, that they were defeated. And of course, UKIP got nowhere near the premiership, but the current govt was the Tories (Conservatives), and because they wanted to appeal to appeal to UKIPs voters, and also because many in the Tory party shared Farage's wants (see: Boris Johnson, who became leader of the Tories shortly after everyone realised what a fucking cock-up Brexit was and ousted David Cameron, exactly as he planned), Brexit came to pass.
At this point, Farage quit and formed a different party to dodge the fallout. So did you defeat UKIP Nick? Did ya really?
Now, I of course do not attribute blame to HNH, because unlike Lowles, I don't believe his organisation is responsible for 100% of *anything*. In fact, I would go as far as to say his continued advocacy for the 'lesser of two evils' is what has gotten us to where we are now. Lowles believes in making concessions towards the Right (and by 'Right' I mean right-wing political parties, rather those who vote for them--we owe them a different kind of response). Reform UK (Farage's new, post Brexit party, far right) is polling 20 points ahead of second place. This is a crisis. And yet, Lowles does not publically back any political party. I understand this; HNH wants to be seen as impartial, so that it may appeal to voters across the spectrum with their message of anti-racism, but in exposing only the far-right, and not promoting left wing candidates, those voters turn to Right or Centrist parties, which as we know, only worsen austerity and inequality, and drive people right back into the cold, bony arms of fucking Farage.
Community initiatives are a massive part of the solution, on that Lowles and I agree. But there is a big fat elephant in the room which he fails to acknowledge throughout. He admits that the lack of devolved funding for councils is bad, and the fact that community organisers largely work unpaid is abhorrent. I agree! So what should we do about it Nick?
Lowles, probably: We have to use positive messaging, open letters, leaflets, and free community events and initiatives to defeat the far right!
Me: Yes! I'm struggling to get anyone to turn up through Nick. Everyone is so tired, burnt out and hopeless.
Lowles: Make it free!
Me: It is free Nick. I've been doing this years and less and less people are getting involved.
L: Put out a leaflet!
M: ....Nick people are poorer and angrier than they've ever been. They're getting disinformation from 100 different sources at once, and they aren't seeing their hard work pay off. We need to do something more! People can't live under this system much longer.
L:
M: Nick?
L:
M: Are you there Nick?
L:
L:
L: Petition :)
And scene!
The ultimate failure of HNH is not addressing Capitalism, or the fact that the system is rigged (no, not 'Broken' as you says Lowles, it's working exactly as designed). Throughout, Lowles presented statistics and facts about how anti-immigrant rhetoric is actually only an issue amongst a small faction of voters. That doesn't really help. In 2017, Labour (leftish, under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership) got over 12 million votes, and only lost to the Tories by about half a million. Despite this, we did not have a coalition govt, it was a Tory majority, because of the First Past the Post system of voting we have. More Tory austerity = more opportunities for Reform.
I will not say that HNH has not been effective, or not done some phenomenal work over the years, though particularly in the 2000s. But the strategies that worked then, do not work now. Lowles has no effective strategies for the digital age, other than 'Social media bad, Zuckerberg should do something', whilst failing to acknowledge that billionaires are unethical, and will never do the right thing. Social media owners like Zuckerberg and Musk profit from racism and misogyny; why would your scathing email change anything?
We vote with our wallets. Lowles does not call for boycotts or divestment amongst those of us who can, and instead condemns violence from 'both sides', and whilst I agree that that narrative is effective in with pearl-clutching centrists who thing statues of long dead racists have feelings, it doesn't help us escape this system. This shitty viewpoint is confounded by the fact that Lowles equates anti-zionism with antisemitism, which is a million degrees of fucked up.
Ultimately, we are at breaking point. I think the 2029 election will be enlightening, to say the least. But if Reform does get in (kill me), then HNH can no longer call themselves effective. Lowles strategies have been effective in the past, but I've never seen such a clear example of winning the battle, but losing the war. At best, he has slowed the bleeding, but he has defeated nothing. This is bandaids over bullet holes. This is chemo for a cancer that is killing us.
I should also clarify that I agree with far more of what is said in this book than I disagree with. In fact the 3 stars I have awarded this book comes from the following 3 chapters: Tackling Taboo Issues, Civic Pride, and Young Angry Men. These chapters offer actual insight into the current climate as well as places where the Left is failing to counter the Right, and how it could make up that difference. The rest of this book failed to discuss what *Hope not Hate* (HNH) did in its conception to build their movement, and instead started in the middle as an established organisation with credibility and reach.
On the website it states that HNH is "proven to be the most effective international anti-fascist organisation out there."
And to that I say:
I was probably hasty when I called Lowles a centrist, but he definitely isn't a leftist. There is no greater proof of this than the fact he accepted an MBE (award bestowed by the Royal Family for exceptional contributions to community), and never once has he suggested...oh I don't know...taxing them? Dissolving them entirely and redistributing the money they hoard to the communities he claims to want to help? I mean, this book at times felt like Lowles doing a victory lap, or like he were a child pulling the trouser leg of of King Charles going *Daddy, daddy, please give me attention, please give me a knighthood daddy, look at all the nice things i've done daddy.*
The first half of this book is spent recounting what I assume Lowles feels are his glory days, in keeping the BNP (British National Party, far right) out of of government, and for the most part, he succeeded.
But he didn't do it alone.
HNH did not invent community organising. Women's groups, religious groups, libraries, community kitchens etc have been doing the work for YEARS. What truly astounded me about this book, is the bare crumbs of credit Lowles offers to any organisation other than HNH for defeating far right candidates. By his own admission, HNH is there to 'support' existing community infrastructure and not to 'evangelise' (though I'd argue he does this anyway), and yet he consistently gives 100% of the credit to himself and his organisation.
The irony in crediting himself with the 'defeat of the BNP' is that he didn't fucking defeat it! Fascism is an insidious beast, and like it always does when it is rejected, is crawls into the shadows to lick its wounds and then rebrands under a different name (in this case, the name was *Nigel Farage*). He cut off one head, and three more grew back. Lowles then turned around and credited HNH with defeating UKIP; a party headed by Nigel Farage that ran on the single issue of Brexit. And again, Lowles says that their work 'exposing' the tactics of UKIP and what terrible people they were, that they were defeated. And of course, UKIP got nowhere near the premiership, but the current govt was the Tories (Conservatives), and because they wanted to appeal to appeal to UKIPs voters, and also because many in the Tory party shared Farage's wants (see: Boris Johnson, who became leader of the Tories shortly after everyone realised what a fucking cock-up Brexit was and ousted David Cameron, exactly as he planned), Brexit came to pass.
At this point, Farage quit and formed a different party to dodge the fallout. So did you defeat UKIP Nick? Did ya really?
Now, I of course do not attribute blame to HNH, because unlike Lowles, I don't believe his organisation is responsible for 100% of *anything*. In fact, I would go as far as to say his continued advocacy for the 'lesser of two evils' is what has gotten us to where we are now. Lowles believes in making concessions towards the Right (and by 'Right' I mean right-wing political parties, rather those who vote for them--we owe them a different kind of response). Reform UK (Farage's new, post Brexit party, far right) is polling 20 points ahead of second place. This is a crisis. And yet, Lowles does not publically back any political party. I understand this; HNH wants to be seen as impartial, so that it may appeal to voters across the spectrum with their message of anti-racism, but in exposing only the far-right, and not promoting left wing candidates, those voters turn to Right or Centrist parties, which as we know, only worsen austerity and inequality, and drive people right back into the cold, bony arms of fucking Farage.
Community initiatives are a massive part of the solution, on that Lowles and I agree. But there is a big fat elephant in the room which he fails to acknowledge throughout. He admits that the lack of devolved funding for councils is bad, and the fact that community organisers largely work unpaid is abhorrent. I agree! So what should we do about it Nick?
Lowles, probably: We have to use positive messaging, open letters, leaflets, and free community events and initiatives to defeat the far right!
Me: Yes! I'm struggling to get anyone to turn up through Nick. Everyone is so tired, burnt out and hopeless.
Lowles: Make it free!
Me: It is free Nick. I've been doing this years and less and less people are getting involved.
L: Put out a leaflet!
M: ....Nick people are poorer and angrier than they've ever been. They're getting disinformation from 100 different sources at once, and they aren't seeing their hard work pay off. We need to do something more! People can't live under this system much longer.
L:
M: Nick?
L:
M: Are you there Nick?
L:
L:
L: Petition :)
And scene!
The ultimate failure of HNH is not addressing Capitalism, or the fact that the system is rigged (no, not 'Broken' as you says Lowles, it's working exactly as designed). Throughout, Lowles presented statistics and facts about how anti-immigrant rhetoric is actually only an issue amongst a small faction of voters. That doesn't really help. In 2017, Labour (leftish, under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership) got over 12 million votes, and only lost to the Tories by about half a million. Despite this, we did not have a coalition govt, it was a Tory majority, because of the First Past the Post system of voting we have. More Tory austerity = more opportunities for Reform.
I will not say that HNH has not been effective, or not done some phenomenal work over the years, though particularly in the 2000s. But the strategies that worked then, do not work now. Lowles has no effective strategies for the digital age, other than 'Social media bad, Zuckerberg should do something', whilst failing to acknowledge that billionaires are unethical, and will never do the right thing. Social media owners like Zuckerberg and Musk profit from racism and misogyny; why would your scathing email change anything?
We vote with our wallets. Lowles does not call for boycotts or divestment amongst those of us who can, and instead condemns violence from 'both sides', and whilst I agree that that narrative is effective in with pearl-clutching centrists who thing statues of long dead racists have feelings, it doesn't help us escape this system. This shitty viewpoint is confounded by the fact that Lowles equates anti-zionism with antisemitism, which is a million degrees of fucked up.
Ultimately, we are at breaking point. I think the 2029 election will be enlightening, to say the least. But if Reform does get in (kill me), then HNH can no longer call themselves effective. Lowles strategies have been effective in the past, but I've never seen such a clear example of winning the battle, but losing the war. At best, he has slowed the bleeding, but he has defeated nothing. This is bandaids over bullet holes. This is chemo for a cancer that is killing us.
October 14, 2025
This book opened my eyes to the dangers posed by the far right and therefore I rate it highly. Some parts, such as the chapter on young men gave excellent insights. Also the topic has been really well researched with lots of statistics and trends provided.
I felt the book was a bit too long. Some parts drifted into a blow by blow account of day to day happenings which lost my interest, particularly the section on the bus campaign.
But the book carries an important message about hope. I found it an inspiration that the author and others like him are doing so much for our society, including putting themselves at risk. Only admiration for their work, which is so needed. Also very much agree with their philosophy which is all about seeing where people are coming from and what drives people to support the far right or engage in violence etc.
I felt the book was a bit too long. Some parts drifted into a blow by blow account of day to day happenings which lost my interest, particularly the section on the bus campaign.
But the book carries an important message about hope. I found it an inspiration that the author and others like him are doing so much for our society, including putting themselves at risk. Only admiration for their work, which is so needed. Also very much agree with their philosophy which is all about seeing where people are coming from and what drives people to support the far right or engage in violence etc.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews