'I am a very long way from endorsing all of Nigel Farage’s policies - but he's not to blame for the riots'

The slaying of the three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class plumbed depths of horror that no one could have imagined and as the sheer numbing despair felt by anyone with an ounce of humanity in them wore off it was, in many cases, replaced by an urgent need to take some action – to show a response, to prove that a line had been crossed and that provocation would lead to a reaction.

It was then that the malicious misinformation regarding the name and implied religion of the murderer began to spread like a widening pool of blood and it was then that the mobs began to form.

Undoubtedly some of those who took to the streets were motivated by hatred and the bellowing cries of “send them back” were the soundtracks for attacks on hotels and hostels where it was suspected – accurately in some cases – that large numbers of asylum seekers were quartered.

That the attacks then turned against mosques was further evidence of the multiplicity of motives behind the violence and it cannot be denied that keyboard warriors both within and without the UK were fanning the flames.

Large numbers of people on the streets, and the descent into looting and assaults on the police that left nearly a hundred officers injured, perversely acted as a magnet to draw people who had no idea as to the aim of the protest to join in and allow the intoxication of the mob mentality to sweep them along against the thin blue line.

There is one player missing from this scenario and that is Nigel Farage.

He could possibly have acted sooner to debunk some of the crude smears and downright lies being spewed out of the internet but by no stretch of the imagination could he be accused of being an inciter of the riot or a cheerleader for the mobs.

When you compare the inchoate ramblings and predictions of civil war seeping from Elon Musk and the falsities shouted by Tommy Robinson from his poolside sunbed in Cyprus with the actual statements made by Nigel Farage you can immediately see that while there may be many people who bear some responsibility for the civil disorder and there may be many failures of policy and political leadership that gave oxygen to the protests; none of these are born of anything said or done by Nigel Farage.

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I am a very long way from endorsing or supporting all of Nigel Farage’s policies or positions but I believe in the most important, most British, of traditions – that of fair play.

Take issue with him by all means. Debate with him if you will. Disagree with him if you must but do not try to blame him for everything that you cannot explain in any other way.

We need to talk about the reasons for so many taking to the streets. We need to talk about the conditions that contributed to this. We need to understand how a spark can cause a conflagration.

All this and more, but one thing we do not need to do is elevate Nigel Farage into the role of some all-powerful satanic figure behind any action that you feel distaste for.

That destroys your argument, demeans any debate and, above all, insults the memory of the three little girls and provides no comfort to their grieving families and friends.