Nigel Farage is wary of the far right, and with good reason

There will be much debate about how many people attended the demonstration organised yesterday by Tommy Robinson, but there were a lot.

- Rachel Wolf

The London march came just a week after Reform UK’s conference, which showcased a doctor claiming the Covid vaccine had given the king cancer.

What does this say about the state of the right in England? And about British politics? Is the “hard right” in the ascendant, and are we racing towards the Americanisation of politics, with all its anger, extreme positions and violence?

It is important that readers who watch these events on the news but spend little time with voters across the country understand that the answer is no. People are worried about immigration, particularly illegal immigration. Their concern about the former drove, in large part, the Brexit vote, and the rise in small boat crossings has driven the latter through the roof. But they still think climate change is real, and caused by human activity, and we are not a nation of anti-vaxxers.