Nigel Farage dared me to walk in London after 9pm: Here's my response

At a property league contiguous successful which Reform UK announced the Tory constabulary and transgression commissioner for Leicestershire was joining their ranks, arsenic good arsenic erstwhile situation politician Vanessa Frake, I asked Nigel Farage a elemental question.

But his reply wasn't what I expected.

I asked the Reform UK person if the six-week run connected instrumentality and order, with the tagline "Britain is Lawless", was successful information task fearfulness scaring radical into voting for his party.

He utterly rejected that assertion and responded to maine saying: "No, they are afraid. They are afraid. I situation you, I situation you to locomotion done the West End of London aft 9 o'clock of an evening wearing jewellery. You wouldn't bash it. You cognize that I'm right. You wouldn't bash it."

I americium not acrophobic to locomotion successful the West End of London aft 9pm wearing jewellery.

I person done it galore times earlier and volition proceed to bash so… but possibly that is due to the fact that I bash not ain a Rolex.

However, conscionable due to the fact that Farage is incorrect connected that point, doesn't mean helium isn't tapping into different morganatic fears crossed the country.

Snatch theft does interest me, hence wherefore I present person a telephone lawsuit with a strap attached to it that I tin enactment astir my body.

And I interest astir weapon transgression successful my country and what the interaction could beryllium if I were to person children - connected the play idiosyncratic was stabbed to decease a stone's propulsion from my house.

However, if we look astatine the statistics, it is invariably a much nuanced representation than Farage oregon societal media mightiness person america believe.

According to constabulary reports, thefts from a idiosyncratic successful London are astir 5 times the nationalist average, and they've been going up since the pandemic.

And the Office for National Statistics (ONS) besides notes that thefts extracurricular of the home, eg telephone snatching, has increased.

However, possession of weapons has fallen successful London by 29% implicit the past 3 years.

And according to the ONS, transgression successful England and Wales is 30% little than successful 2015, and 76% little than 1995.

And it is simply a akin representation for convulsive crime.

In short, americium I close to beryllium much disquieted that snatch theft and weapon transgression successful London is increasing? Yes, and no.

But Nigel Farage is tapping into voters' emotions - their feelings that the state is broken. It's a representation the Conservative Party helped to make and the Labour Party happily painted to large effect during the wide predetermination run of 2024.

And the much politicians of each colours archer voters that "the strategy is broken", the much voters mightiness commencement to judge them.

That is what Nigel Farage is banking on.