Liverpool’s left-wing lie: how shared struggles bred a herd mentality

Liverpool might be known to ‘bleed Red’, but it's becoming apparent that some Scousers just want a common enemy.

“Scouse, not English”. This is a phrase parroted by the people of Liverpool (me included) and goes back to the city’s opposition to Margaret Thatcher and her government's policies in the 80’s that planned to force the once imperial stronghold into ‘managed decline’ - in essence, leaving the city behind and its people with it.

In general, the decade was a politically turbulent time for the city – from Thatcher’s cuts to Hillsborough, the Toxteth Riots and Militant’s takeover of the council. Both the establishment and the media made an enemy of the region, most significantly The Sun with their front-page story titled, “The Truth”, which falsely blamed Liverpool fans for the deaths of 96, now 97, fans. From this vilification, a resistance was born which has held our city together since, implanting a staunchly left-wing stance into our cultural and political identity.

For some, this rightly cemented a victim narrative – and it’s true, to some extent. Stereotypes, spearheaded by the media, still heavily influence how we are portrayed and treated. This has bled into the way we view ourselves.

The requirements to being ‘a real Scouser’ have been so refined that it has lost its original meaning, and is rather defined by having a purple bin, a thick accent, and an unreasonable contempt towards white socks.

I have been on the wrong side of these purity tests before. Too Polish for some, not enough for others, and I’m not Scouse enough because of my grey bin and soft accent. Born in Liverpool to a Scouse father and a half-Polish mother from Nottingham, I’ve spent my life trying to prove my place in a community that I take pride in for our sense of solidarity, kindness, and determination.

Whilst I find this offensive and unnecessary given our roots as an immigrant city, I can’t help but find myself coming back round to the sentiment - is this not just a long-term implication of how we’ve been historically treated?

Being made to feel like outsiders could be blamed for the herd mentality that we see today, born from the idea that “if we all stick together, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks”. It’s unique and part of the reason I love this city, but division has been spreading like wildfire – driven by a new, false purpose.

In the last five years or so, we have seen a shift from a somewhat politically correct society, where people feared being ‘cancelled’ or losing their friends or job, to many feeling comfortably emboldened to spread bigotry and extremely far-right ideals both online and face-to-face. Families are falling apart whilst echo chambers further people's volition. Yet it's all rooted in anger. Anger at a system that isn’t working and creating a class divide unlike anything we’ve ever seen before – but the anger is being misplaced.

What was once a genuine show of community and solidarity in response to harmful media narratives and institutional disregard has transformed into a witch hunt puppeteered by tech giants and their shareholders.

This influence goes deep - with algorithms rewarding hostile behaviour and driving echo chambers driven by the herd. Once a Labour stronghold, the city is now veering towards Reform, whose policies include reintroducing the two-child benefit cap and slashing council funding.

“Scouse, not English.” These so-called “freethinkers” are now the ones waving St. George’s Flag, attacking asylum seekers or anyone who comes across as different, making our streets unsafe in the name of “protecting our women and children”.

But, no wonder people have been so easily turned. Decades of mistreatment have left us vulnerable to manipulation. In the 80’s, it was Thatcher, after Hillsborough, the police; yet today, it’s aimed at people with absolutely no political or institutional control.

One stark example of this is the far-right riots that occured mere days after the murder of three young girls in Southport - Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Da Sliva Aguiar at the hands of Axel Rudekabana in July 2024. The dissaray that occured exploited the tragedy by pushing their racist agendas, actions which have been heavily condemned by the families of the victims.

Jeremy Corbyn put it plainly: “The great dividers want you to think the problems in society are caused by migrants and refugees. They’re wrong. They’re caused by an economic system that protects the interests of the super-rich.” As a city that once hailed him as our country’s future, we should really heed his advice.

If Liverpool truly "bleeds Red", we must remember what that truly means. It doesn’t mean blindly following the herd - it means fighting for those who are facing misfortune, and standing in absolute solidarity with those that the establishment wishes to scapegoat for their failures. The city once prided itself on thinking differently, and we need to do that again to take on the institutional powers that are truly pulling the strings - tech giants who are profiting from our anger, governmental policies that are stifling communities, and the elites who benefit from the class divide.