At a press convention on Monday during which Reform UK introduced the Tory police and crime commissioner for Leicestershire and Rutland was becoming a member of their ranks, in addition to former jail governor Vanessa Frake, I requested Nigel Farage a easy query.
However his reply wasn’t what I anticipated.
I requested the Reform UK chief if the six-week marketing campaign on legislation and order, with the tagline “Britain is Lawless”, was in truth mission worry scaring folks into voting for his occasion.
He totally rejected that declare and responded to me saying: “No, they are afraid. They are afraid. I dare you, I dare you to walk through the West End of London after 9 o’clock of an evening wearing jewellery. You wouldn’t do it. You know that I’m right. You wouldn’t do it.”
I’m not afraid to stroll within the West Finish of London after 9pm carrying jewelry.
I’ve accomplished it many instances earlier than and can proceed to take action… however maybe that’s as a result of I don’t personal a Rolex.
Nevertheless, simply because Farage is flawed on that time, does not imply he is not tapping into different professional fears throughout the nation.
Snatch theft does fear me, therefore why I now have a telephone case with a strap connected to it that I can put round my physique.
And I fear about knife crime in my space and what the affect might be if I had been to have kids – on the weekend somebody was stabbed to loss of life a stone’s throw from my home.
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3:09
Farage ‘not mincing his phrases’
Nevertheless, if we take a look at the statistics, it’s invariably a extra nuanced image than Farage or social media might need us consider.
In accordance with police stories, thefts from an individual in London are virtually 5 instances the nationwide common, they usually’ve been going up because the pandemic.
And the Workplace for Nationwide Statistics (ONS) additionally notes that thefts outdoors of the house, eg telephone snatching, has elevated.
Nevertheless, possession of weapons has fallen in London by 29% over the past three years.
And in accordance with the ONS, crime in England and Wales is 30% decrease than in 2015, and 76% decrease than 1995.
And it’s a comparable image for violent crime.
In brief, am I proper to be extra apprehensive that snatch theft and knife crime in London is growing? Sure, and no.
However Nigel Farage is tapping into voters’ feelings – their emotions that the nation is damaged. It is a image the Conservative Celebration helped to create and the Labour Celebration fortunately painted to nice impact through the basic election marketing campaign of 2024.
And the extra politicians of all colors inform voters that “the system is broken”, the extra voters may begin to consider them.
That’s what Nigel Farage is banking on.
