Moscow, Aug 4 (RIA Novosti/GNA) – Racism and xenophobia are on the rise in Europe, fueled by growing social inequality and the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few, Craig Murray, a Scottish political activist and former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan, told RIA Novosti.
“I think we are seeing a societal trend across Europe towards racism and xenophobia. We are also seeing the development of late-stage capitalism, whereby the state acts to concentrate wealth in the hands of a very small number of people. Societal progress has stopped,” Murray said in an interview.
The former ambassador said that the living standards of ordinary working people in the United Kingdom have not improved since 2000, with only the wealthiest part of society enjoying the fruits of economic growth.
After the Second World War, Western countries had 50 years of progress towards more social-democratic societies, but their expectations of having a decent standard of living and owning their own homes have since vanished.
“The notion of progress — the idea that my children will have a better life than me — has disappeared from Western society. It has been replaced by the concentration of wealth in the hands of extremely wealthy people and by a social atmosphere of atavism, hatred of outsiders, xenophobia and racism,” Murray said.
He suggested that the rise of xenophobic sentiments in Europe was one of the reasons for the conflict in Ukraine.
“It led to the tensions, the anti-Russian measures against Russian culture and Russian-speaking populations in Ukraine, which led to the civil war and then to the wider conflict,” the former diplomat said.
GNA/RIA Novosti