When anti-asylum demonstrations have so much support from the mainstream, a smarter, more tailored message is needed

• David Renton is the author of The New Authoritarians: Convergence on the Right

Earlier this month, I helped organise a protest to defend the refugees holed up at the Thistle City Barbican hotel in London. We mobilised 800 people to support the asylum seekers, who waved back at us from the hotel to show their gratitude. On the other side of the road, about 250 people had gathered to demand the hotel be closed. Speakers there called refugees “illegal”, “invaders” and “parasites”.

Seeing and hearing our opponents, the anti-racists responded with a spontaneous chant of “Nazi scum, off our streets”, which our side was able to sustain for more than an hour. I understand why people wanted to express their contempt for the people who tell lies about refugees, but the chant didn’t strike me as effective when I heard it, and the more I have thought about it since, the more convinced I am that it was the wrong strategy.

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‘My dad was fine with it,’ said Steele Quinnell, who tried his father’s sport but thought: ‘Nah, this isn’t for me’

Sipping coffee in Cardiff Bay during a break from his day job as a personal trainer, Steele Quinnell, a scion of the Quinnell rugby dynasty, is matter of fact about how his path in life has diverged from that of his relatives.

His grandfather Derek, father Scott and uncles Craig and Gavin are renowned as literal and figurative giants in Welsh rugby – all well over 6ft tall and fearless on the pitch.

‘My dad was fine with it,’ said Steele Quinnell, who tried his father’s sport but thought: ‘Nah, this isn’t for me’

Sipping coffee in Cardiff Bay during a break from his day job as a personal trainer, Steele Quinnell, a scion of the Quinnell rugby dynasty, is matter of fact about how his path in life has diverged from that of his relatives.

His grandfather Derek, father Scott and uncles Craig and Gavin are renowned as literal and figurative giants in Welsh rugby – all well over 6ft tall and fearless on the pitch.

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