Joy Crooks says the UK and Ireland are in a ‘dark time’ amid the rise of far-right politics | Far right

The UK and Ireland are entering a “dark time”, according to singer Joy Crooks, who said the influence of far-right ideology on mainstream politics was similar to what happened in the 1970s when the National Front was at its peak.

Crooks, who has just played two sold-out shows at the O2 Academy in Brixton, said the recent wave of nationalism and a far-right march through central London in September had made her feel unsafe in the UK.

“She said: “I’m not oblivious to the political landscape we live in now and I’m the daughter of immigrants myself. I traveled into central London to shop and came across a bunch of St George’s flags. It doesn’t make me feel safe.”

The singer said that when she was filming her first acting role in the coming-of-age story Ash, in Luton, the black and brown crew and cast became concerned after rumors of Tommy Robinson gathering in the town.

“We were wondering one day if it was safe to go to work because we heard there would be mass protests in Luton with Tommy Robinson and his colleagues,” she said.

When asked if the current situation was similar to the situation in the 1970s when the National Front regularly organized marches in migrant areas, she said: “In my opinion it is quite similar. It is terrifying… I am really worried. It feels like we are entering a dark time.”

Crocs Brixton’s performances went viral after a clip of her playing a cover of Sinead O’Connor’s anti-racism anthem “Black Boys on Mopeds” surfaced online.

O’Connor wrote the song after the deaths of Nicholas Bramble, who was killed while being pursued by police on a motorcycle they assumed he had stolen, and Colin Roach, a black teenager who died under suspicious circumstances while inside Stoke Newington Police Station.

The inside cover of O’Connor’s hit album I Don’t Want What I Haven’t Got, on which the song was featured, also featured a picture of Colin Roach’s parents protesting, along with the caption: “God’s place is the world but the world is not God’s place.”

While the song referred to police violence and racism, it also spoke to what O’Connor saw as the hypocrisy of political leaders, including Margaret Thatcher who was referenced in the song and accused of flirting with far-right rhetoric during her rise to power.

While performing the song on stage in Brixton, Crooks said: “I don’t want to sing this song, but 35 years ago Sinead wrote this song and it’s still relevant and I feel like it’s maybe necessary.”

Crooks, of Irish and Bangladeshi heritage, said the idea to play O’Connor’s song came after she drove around Dublin with her cousins ​​and saw dozens of Irish tricolor flags, which are part of a nationalist anti-immigrant movement.

“I realized at that moment that this was a problem that was happening in the West and that it was becoming more and more widespread because of the big label and fascism and the rise of the right.,She said.

After the Dublin concert, where the song received a standing ovation, her band said she should play the song on every leg of her tour because it is “relevant everywhere in the UK”.

Crooks said she was playing the song to encourage “solidarity” between communities directly affected by far-right rhetoric, but also as a reminder for musicians to use their voices.

“Maybe I’ll sing that song as a little sign to my community to say that we also have to take some responsibility and speak out,” she said. “I think my colleagues are definitely ready to talk about Palestine, but when it comes to the big word [racism]”It’s a little scary.”