Europe’s lefties know how to bash migrants (nearly) as well as the hard right

Migrant-bashing has had a good run of late in Europe, largely as a result of the xenophobic hard right gaining ground across the continent. But these days it is not just the ideological allies of Marine Le Pen in France or Geert Wilders in the Netherlands banging on about new arrivals, or the integration of old ones. Parties on the other end of the political spectrum sometimes join in. On September 1st Sahra Wagenknecht, a German stalwart of the radical left, is expected to do well in two state elections, with a third to come later in the month. Polls show that in some contests her one-woman band, launched in October, will beat all three parties of the ruling coalition. Beyond wanting to soak the rich, it is Ms Wagenknecht’s overt animosity to migrants that stands out. Her claim there is “no more room” to take in refugees is the kind of rhetoric that has helped propel the nationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD) to the top of the polls. A stabbing spree by a Syrian failed asylum-seeker that left three dead on August 24th would once have delivered a windfall to the hard right. This time it is likely to help Ms Wagenknecht’s lot just as much.