Here's the thing, people in rougher communities are seeing more local crime in their community and more antisocial behaviour. Yet there's less police and people in these communities are feeling ignored and pushed out. They are statistically the places asylum seekers are placed not rich areas, so any issues, no matter how small are disproportionately born by these communities.
The police due to successive government have had resources cut and cut so they are less effective in these types of low level everyday crime. It leads to a feeling of neglect and de-prioritisation. It's a sense of being ignored and dismissed over a lengthy period.
Even in my nice next of the woods we've seen council tax go up substantially whilst the two PCSOs were sacked for budget considerations and we now have a massive county lines issue that didn't previously exist. This is leading to resentment and dissatisfaction.
We need to remember that 'tough on crime and the causes of crime' was a particular successful and well supported political slogan. For a reason.
Because the police have less resources they've been forced into public engagement in a different way - large through media campaigns that don't do a lot. These tend to be more aligned with middle class thinking and priorities which again emphasises this sense of 'left behind'. This virtue signalling style of policing due to lack of resources is pretty hated because it's replaced rather on the ground police and is a poor use of the limited resources the police do have.
This is boiling over into all manner of social conflict and the police frankly don't have the resources to deal with it. They have lost public good will because there's a sense they are there for other people and not these boring mundane crimes. In small provisional communities everyone tends to know everyone else which also includes everyone knowing who is responsible for x, but the police do fuck all to stop them.
The thugs take advantage of the situation because they can, meanwhile it's the ones who are armchair spectators who hear a grain of truth from someone outside of authority who merely acknowledges their existence so they start to believe and buy into the wider narrative.
This wouldn't happen if policing was effective and was sorting out problems in communities. Farage is filling a void that's been vacated by other political parties not prioritising policing higher on the agenda. All whilst taxes are rising and we get less services.
This is ultimately the problem. Where the money is perceived to have gone instead gets the blame - because Labour and the Tories can't really offer an alternative narrative to why various crimes in local communities are becoming more visible and common.
Given I know how bad the anti social behaviour has become in my nice area - visibly so with the local supermarket installing so much anti-theft equipment and actually witnessing these crimes it's difficult to comprehend what it's like in less affluent areas with high unemployment and low prospects.
People want jobs and opportunity, which again is catkip to communities that feel under pressure from changing demographics.
The government has to turn that around and show a tangible change in real lives rather than lip service and pr. Because that's where the trust has been lost. In this sense of disconnection between politicians and people witnessing crime and it's effects.
The void will get filled with other easy slogans because Farage hasn't got a plan thats any different from the PR and spin of the mainstream parties. He's just got handy scapegoats. He's trusted because he's noticing that grain of truth that he can then capitalise on and apply a shitty narrative to. He makes people who feel disenfranchised, feel listened to.
The whole thing is UGLY, but unless you correctly identify the failings of the mainstream people to understand what creating an environment for Farage to flourish in, you are screwed really. You don't achieve that by trying to silence disaffected voices. You have to make them less disaffected and unhappy instead!
It all sucks. There are no short cuts. We kid ourselves in pretending there are and that banning solves the issue.