John,
You can feel the frustration everywhere. People aren’t just unhappy. They’re tired of being squeezed and ignored.
That’s the backdrop to HOPE Not Hate’s huge new poll of more than 11,000 Reform UK supporters. And the headline isn’t what Farage wants you to think.
Reform’s rise isn’t being driven by hate or a sudden obsession with borders.
It’s being driven by anger at how unfair life has become. People are fed up with soaring bills, flat wages and services stretched to breaking point. And they’re rolling the dice (again!) because the mainstream keeps letting them down.
But into that frustration, one convenient story keeps being pushed: blame immigration.
It’s been the go-to distraction for years. Yet every crackdown, every “tough” policy, every new headline has solved nothing. Because immigration was never the cause of these problems.
The truth? Limiting immigration makes people poorer. It cuts the workforce, drains the NHS, and weakens the economy. It doesn’t fix wages. It doesn’t rebuild public services. It doesn’t make life easier for anyone.
So why keep selling the lie?
Because it’s easier to point anger at those with the least power than confront those with the most. It’s easier to blame people fleeing conflict than explain why millionaires pay less tax, why public services are collapsing, or why wealth keeps flowing upwards.
And this is where the real danger lies.
When Labour or the Conservatives echo Farage’s framing, even a little, they aren’t stopping the rise of the far right. They’re helping it. They’re validating the idea that immigration is the problem. They’re shifting politics onto ground where rights are eroded and scapegoats replace solutions.
Meanwhile, the wealthy donors bankrolling Reform UK get exactly what they paid for. A political debate that focuses on the powerless, not on them.
The polling makes something else clear. Most people drawn to Reform aren’t driven by hate. They’re driven by frustration, with inequality, insecurity and a system that no longer works for them.
And none of that will be fixed by tougher borders or policies that make integration almost impossible.
It will be fixed by tackling the real causes of anger. Unfairness, falling living standards, and a democracy that feels out of reach.
People don’t need someone to blame. They need someone to fix what’s broken.
