I have visited Calais many times. On each occasion, I learn more about the meaning of human resilience. Having fled the horrors of war, environmental disaster, and destitution, refugees in Calais have gone through hell in search of a place of safety. Upon arrival, their search goes on. Children beg for water, contaminated by feces. Rats scurry into people’s muddied tents. Mothers cry for the futures their sons and daughters could have had. Evictions are carried out daily by the French authorities; tents, blankets, identity papers, mobile phones, clothes, and medicines are confiscated or destroyed.

Those who arrive on our shores are not “boat people.” They are human beings, exercising their legal right to asylum. As Warsan Shire writes in her poem Home, “no one puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land.” Imagine living in the conditions I’ve described. Imagine, then, risking your life to make it across the channel. And imagine ending up in a hotel, looking out the window, and seeing a crowd of people shouting at you to “go home.”

In the last month, we’ve witnessed a series of protests outside hotels that are being used to accommodate asylum seekers. Among the protesters were placards reading, “Mass deportations now,” a call that Reform UK’s Nigel Farage has now echoed. Many of us have seen the harrowing images in the United States of people being snatched off the streets by officers. It is, frankly, terrifying to think that such authoritarian cruelty could soon be coming to the UK.

How on earth did we get here? I’ll tell you how: a Labour government that has spent the past year stoking hatred, division, and fear. It has been utterly sickening to see Labour post video footage of migrants being detained and deported — a propaganda campaign that Donald Trump would be proud of.

Equally sickening was the sight of police officers having to escort a Deliveroo driver, who was being surrounded by anti-asylum protests, just weeks after the government singled out “illegal” food delivery couriers for deportation. Instead of demonizing delivery drivers who may or may not be asylum seekers, why not give asylum seekers the right to work so they can support themselves and contribute to society? Analysis shows that this could bring in £1.3 billion a year and add £1.6 billion to the UK’s annual GDP.

Scapegoating vulnerable people has always been a deliberate ploy by the government to distract from its own domestic failures. Today it might be asylum seekers. Tomorrow it could be disabled people. The next day, trans people. Whatever the minority, we are witnessing the demonization of vulnerable people, to the grave detriment of us all.

The great dividers want you to believe that the problems in our society are caused by minorities. They’re not. They’re caused by a rigged economic system that protects the interests of the superrich. That’s why 4.5 million children live in poverty. That’s why people’s water bills continue to rise. That’s why tenants in private sector flats are paying well over half their take-home pay to keep a roof over their head.

Labour strategists will tell you that they have no choice but to lean into anti-migrant sentiment to stop the rise of Reform. How’s that working out? Labour could have made the case for a humane immigration system that treats refugees with dignity and respect. Instead, they have fanned the flames of racism and emboldened the far right up and down the country. When you demonize migrants, the far right listens. When you post video footage of detaining and deporting migrants, the far right watches. When you speak of an “island of strangers,” the far right mobilizes.

These are not signs of a party reluctantly adopting an electoral strategy. These are signs of a party actively embracing the growth of far-right populism, no matter the electoral cost. These are signs of a country on a slippery slope to fascism. This term should not be used lightly. Many acts are terrifying enough on their own terms without warranting that label. But beware, fascism doesn’t arrive in uniform overnight. It arrives with suited politicians, one piece of legislation at a time.

Indeed, the demonization of minorities is part of a much wider, full-scale assault on human rights. When the government proscribed Palestine Action, for example, they did not just erode the right to oppose genocide here and now. They set a dangerous precedent, giving confidence to any incoming government that they, too, could strip away the right to protest in the blink of an eye. Labour is not just appeasing Reform. It is laying out the red carpet, passing dangerous legislation that will be harnessed by those seeking to destroy our rights.

We are at a critical juncture. We need an alternative, now. That’s why we have launched yourparty.uk — and that’s why more than 700,000 have already signed up. We are going to do things differently. We are not going to scapegoat refugees for the ills of society. Instead, we will focus our attention on the real cause: a grotesquely unequal society that concentrates wealth in the hands of the few.

We will not just defend the human rights of refugees. We will defend the human rights of all. That includes disabled people and their right to live in dignity. That includes children in poverty being denied their right to food and clothing. That includes trans people, who face horrific discrimination, hatred, and abuse just for living their lives; trans people are human beings who deserve to live in safety, dignity, and freedom. We must be united against oppression and prejudice in all its forms — and that is what we will be.

Look around you, and you will find proof that a kinder world is possible. From what we see across most of our media, you’d think that there is a consensus that refugees aren’t welcome. This could not be further from the truth. “I think we should take care of people who are struggling or that need help.” That’s what one young woman said in response to protesters in her community in Epping. I speak to people like her every day — ordinary people who support, befriend, and reach out to asylum seekers as fellow human beings.

The prime minister speaks of an island of strangers. He ignores the kindness of strangers. And that is what gives me hope that, together, we can build a kinder world for all.