Over the last several days, there have been a number of outbreaks of violence in towns and cities up and down Britain, including Liverpool, Stoke, Bristol, Blackpool, Nottingham, Hull, Mancester and Leeds.

These incidents first started on Tuesday after a number of children were stabbed, 3 fatally, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event.

Since then, groups of violent anti-immigration protestors have attacked shops, mosques and the police around the country in ugly scenes.

There is much than could be said about what is happening and much we do not yet know. As usual, public commentary on this issue revolves around name-calling, apportioning blame and doing everything possible to avoid discussing the underlying factors which have brought us here.

Against this backdrop, I keep being asked why I haven’t commented on what is happening. And the reason, as my readers know, is that I already have. Months ago.

In May, I wrote this article:

Why I Fear the Future

In New York, Francis and I were invited to attend a musical about the artist Tamara de Lempicka. Lempicka, the wife of a Polish noble, flees the Russian Revolution and ends up in Paris. With her husband struggling to adjust to his loss of status and wealth, the family lives in poverty until Lempicka is discovered as an artist. She gradually finds her feet and eventually thrives in the rapidly changing world of the 1920s.

Read full story