The summer of 2025 proved something of a breaking point for Taj Ali.
A year on from nation-wide riots, the ongoing series of protests outside asylum hotels, some peaceful, some organised by extremist groups or marked by violent intimidation, was only part of the story. Even more troubling to the former editor of Tribune magazine was a spate of outright racism, with violent attacks targeting people of colour on the street, in their homes and their places of worship. Many of these attacks took place in less diverse areas of the UK: in the North, the Midlands and parts of the South West, leaving victims and their communities in fear and feeling isolated.
So he decided to do something about it. Alongside a web developer friend, Ali has launched a new anti-racist monitoring service – Reporting and Documenting Acts of Racism, or RADAR for short. The service aims not only to document and archive these incidents of racist hatred, but bring them to public attention, and work to make a difference.
RADAR reports acts of racism
“It’s not just about asylum seekers now,” Ali, now a columnist at British Muslim community outlet Hyphen, told me. “If you are a Black or Asian person in some of these areas, you will be targeted.”
“Racism is something that’s impacted me, and that impacted my dad in the ’80s,” he said. “It was communities saying: ‘we’re not taking it anymore’ that stopped it, not any top-down benevolence.” Ali’s family, too, was affected by racial harassment throughout the summer: “My sister-in-law was called the P-word in the Peak District. Even when British Muslims are integrating, contributing to society, they’re being attacked.”
Ali cites a number of particularly disturbing recent incidents, from racist graffiti targeting a Chinese restaurant in York, to a knife-wielding man who threatened congregants at a Portsmouth mosque. “The individuals there handled it very well, but who knows what could’ve happened,” he added. But this is, as he puts it, “just the tip of the iceberg”. Many such incidents have simply not seen the light of day, or else been written off by the authorities as low-level antisocial behaviour. RADAR hopes to change this, providing a hub for anonymous respondents to submit evidence of racist harassment and violence, and lobbying to bring these incidents to the attention of the press.
RADAR is independent, reporting the underreported
Unlike some more established anti-racist campaign groups, such as Hope not Hate, which has received government grants for educational outreach work, Ali rejects state funding as a matter of principle, saying: “We don’t want to be state-funded, because we feel that that could compromise us.”
Organisational and financial independence, he feels, will enhance RADAR’s credentials in objectivity, while ensuring the organisation can maintain trust and support among communities who feel alienated from organs of the state. He said: “If we’re not going to get support from these institutions, we’re going to have to do it ourselves.”
And part of the task is set to be working to overcome structural barriers in the media, which often leave hate incidents like these underreported. “It’s often a class thing – during the riots last year, a lot of journalists were on holiday!” Ali explained. “I was receiving so many messages on social media, detailing horrific racist incidents, things that hadn’t been reported in the news […] you need to have more diversity in the media, and you need more people rooted in communities.”
Widespread support gives optimism for the future
He remains, however, optimistic for the future of his new venture – not just in what they hope to achieve, with a small crew of motivated volunteers, but in the solidarity and support they’ve seen up and down the country, from Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Citing a very positive response from Sikh community organisations, Ali also mentions strong early support from a number of trade unions, including the Fire Brigades Union and the Harrow branch of the National Education Union.
“The amount of support we have from white supporters – I think we have an anti-racist majority in this country. The racists are emboldened, but there are good people in communities, up and down the country,” he said.
What about his advice to members of the public? Very simply: “Don’t be a passive bystander – if you see racism, do something about it. It’s only when individuals challenge it that things change.”
