Breck Road Brawl

At 4 PM on Tuesday, 22nd October, a violent brawl broke out in the middle of Breck Road, a busy high street in North Liverpool’s Anfield area. The incident involved three builders, who were attacked with weapons as they finished their work on a local pub. Their van was vandalised, and they were hospitalised following an assault by three local men who had allegedly been drinking in the vicinity.

Breck Road, like much of North Liverpool, is a deeply deprived area, plagued by the typical issues faced by impoverished working-class communities: high unemployment, substance abuse, crime, and violence. The area’s economy largely depends on the income generated by the two local football clubs, as the Labour council tends to overlook working-class neighbourhoods, instead prioritising investment in tourist, student, and more affluent areas.

While fights on Breck Road are not unusual, especially around pub closing times, they are rarely as violent as this. The underlying cause of this particular altercation appears to be a toxic mix of rumour and rising tensions in the area. The builders were accused of abducting children, with claims circulating about a suspicious white van parked near a school close to the pub where they were working. Few seemed to consider that this was merely a work van.

Merseyside has recently been gripped by a wave of paranoia, fuelled by fears that foreign, brown-skinned men arriving on boats are here to abduct children. In areas like Walton, which receive little to no investment, the working-class population has plenty of reasons to be angry. Millions of pounds are spent beautifying the city centre, while homes in places like Anfield are crumbling.

Every election year brings promises to “get tough on immigration”, proposing hard-line measures to rid Britain of the so-called foreign scourge. At the same time, politicians lament the labour shortages caused by Brexit, which has curtailed access to migrant workers from poorer European countries. Interestingly, white European immigrants are often praised for their work ethic, whereas darker-skinned migrants from outside Europe are vilified as benefit scroungers or even child abductors.

This divisive rhetoric is a classic example of the “divide and rule” tactic used to pit the working class against itself. Instead of addressing the real roots of societal decay—such as underinvestment, inequality, and failing capitalism—people are encouraged to blame “Johnny Foreigner” for their problems.

Merseyside, like any port city, is a melting pot of nationalities. In areas like Breck Road, where affordable housing is one of the few draws for low-income residents, tensions naturally arise between established locals and newcomers. These tensions are exacerbated by fear of the unknown, particularly when emotive issues like child abuse are invoked. The unfortunate incident on Breck Road is a perfect storm of these factors, manipulated to distract the working class from the real issues at hand.

As working-class people, we share far more in common with a bricklayer from Syria than we do with a CEO from London. It’s time to look up to see the cause of our problems, not down to those who are suffering with us.