To blame Nigel Farage personally for this mess.

[twopercent]

Some people are fundamentally unpleasant. We know that. Some people. a tiny minority, hold views that are unacceptable to general society. We had a system whereby they knew they were better off keeping their poison silent in their heads. Farage has given them a cloak of respectability, and a way of connecting with other likeminded psychos. And he has organised them. Now look where we are.

It is going to be interesting to see how many people convicted for these riots are the same people convicted in 2011. Some people will just jump on any excuse to join in and stir up disorder.

These people would be better off finding a sporting outlet for their energy and aggression, and learning to discipline it. But Farage has kicked it all up, purely because he needed personal supporters for personal power, and saw this demographic as an untapped source of numbers.

100%. This enabling behavior has been evident in society and across MN for years. So many posters on here have directly or indirectly encouraged this behavior and yet here they are thread after thread clutching their pearls/vapes expressing shock at the environment they helped create.

You weren't paying attention because you were too busy stoking the embers and now the streets are burning.

All of this

Interesting article about how we got here. https://myblackface.wordpress.com/2024/08/08/riots-cartwheels-and-brains-interrupted/

@MissEsmeWatson no- it's 'because' Labour are in power we are having the riots- nothing to do with messing up- all the things these 'rioters' are rioting about ( when really it's just shitheads fancying a bit of argy bargy and looting) ALL these things happened under the Tory government, including murders by ethnic minorities, and yet they didn't riot because the Farage and Tommy fans were waiting for the signal - because they realised that they were not quite as popular as they thought- far too popular- but not enough to get a sniff of power.

(I’m behind on the thread but it just occurred to me)

Isn’t it Farage who thinks handguns should be legal to carry in the U.K.?

What could go possibly wrong?!

Yes, he said the ban was a ludicrous overreaction to Dunblane.

Ok many people have taken DC to these protests. I've seen them on TV.

For those saying only the rioters are solely responsible:

• Jordan Parlour, 28, of Seacroft, Leeds, has been jailed for 20 months for stirring up racial hatred on social media in connection with the recent unrest
• Suspended Labour councillor Ricky Jones has been charged with encouraging violent disorder after appearing at a London counter-protest and is due in court later.

The Express poll on the topic:

Have to say when I saw the news about the knife attack on those poor girls and women my first practical thought was thank god we don’t have access to guns. If this was the US and he’d had a gun, there is a real chance that there wouldn’t have been any survivors. Absolutely terrifying.

I do wonder what is defined as hate speech and what is defined as freedom of speech in this context. The man is a vile piece of shit, like most of the tory party and my parents.
I don't want to derail the thread, but can someone shed light on when lines are blurred, legally and socially acceptably, mainly in this context? I grew up in a terrible, bigoted, abusive environment and want to know more about these things.

There's no universal definition of hate speech but it can be described as:

Any kind of communication in speech, writing or behaviour, that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group on the basis of who they are. In other words, based on their religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, colour, descent, gender or other identity factor.

Express poll update:

Almost as shocking as their front page the other day.

More helpful with photo

Notonthestairs
I don’t think anyone is seriously suggesting that if Britain withdraws from political structures in Brussels we would be moving ourselves from that Common Market - June 2016

I couldn't access your Spectator link on Thursday - now I can read it. You missed out half of the sentence;

I don’t think anyone is seriously suggesting that if Britain withdraws from political structures in Brussels we would be moving ourselves from that Common Market which – yes Malcolm, even Albania – includes every other country in Europe, that’s the point that Michael Gove was making.

He talks about a trading relationship with the EU that every non-EU country in Europe had [via free trade or bilateral agreements] apart from Belarus.

The Nigel Farage/Norway quote in your Huffington Post link is from January 2013 (Question Time 17 Jan 2013). That's nearly 3.5 years before the referendum vote - no wonder they haven't put a date to it.

Nigel Farage should just use his initials.

NF
Says it all.

This is the thing isn’t it?
Farage spins the lies and other people suffer.

Nigel Farage’s Reform voters are out of step with most of the country.

Probably because they listen to Nigel Farage.

I blame the right wing press for whipping up xenophobia and racism. The tories for their "Stop the boats" tagline. Nigel Farage

I think GB News must bear some responsibility.

There's a really interesting News Agents podcast about the rise of the far-right in the UK and the causes of the riots:

It's something you wouldn't even be aware of if your social media algorithm doesn't take you down that rabbit hole. I had no idea Tommy Robinson was so popular/widely viewed, or that so many people really believe that white people are being replaced. It's mad when you start looking into it - they've essentially been radicalised.

Private Eye.