UK Election Discourse Shifts Towards US-Style Immigration Discourse – with a Follower of Trump spearheading the movement
The commotion here starts bright and early daily. Seagulls swoop down from above; arcade games play louder than each other; Radiohead, the '90s alternative band, produces a melancholic tune from a poor speaker until an employee notices, changing it to a dance hit instead.
Clacton seems to be forgotten by the world, as its elderly seaside town can no longer count on visitors from London. Danny Botterell, a local business owner, voices his sentiments to CNN, gazing towards an empty seafront: "It feels like God's waiting room."
However, Clacton serves as the epicenter of Britain's migration debate. Nigel Farage, the flamboyant creator of Brexit and the face of Britain's populist right, continues to draw a crowd, speaking to hundreds on the pier last week about running for parliament in the upcoming election.
Farage has been shaping the migration conversation in Britain for over a decade, and more recently, in the United States, collaborating frequently with former President Donald Trump. He is back to challenge the Conservatives from the right once again, rekindling memories of the heated EU referendum campaign eight years ago that led to Britain's exit from the EU.
"Nigel has a knack for expressing his opinions forcefully, and that's a positive in our books," Botterell says, expressing the sentiments of many locals who expect Farage to "speak the truth."
Farage is expected to win Clacton and become an MP for the eighth time. His Reform party is gaining support from disillusioned ex-Conservatives across Britain, potentially causing the Conservative Party to suffer a crushing defeat, handing Farage a significant role in British politics.
According to polls, Farage's Reform party could surpass the Conservatives, making it difficult for fringe groups like Reform to win many seats in parliament. However, if the predicted surge holds, it could push Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's party to an unprecedented defeat, giving Farage an influential position in British politics nonetheless.
Asylum experts and rights groups are not thrilled about the prospect. They argue that Farage's presence in British life has distorted the general perception of migration, hardening attitudes towards the "tens of thousands" of asylum seekers stuck in a backlog of unresolved cases.
"Farage knows how to talk about migration in a way that makes it seem like he's really telling the truth, addressing people's deepest fears and prejudices,” migration policy expert Zoe Gardner says.
"Farage is always one step ahead of the Tories' conservative wing," she adds, drawing a parallel to Trump's approach to illegal migration across the southern US border.
"They'll always want more," she claims. "Their careers are based on pushing the envelope further and further."
A 'closed' asylum system
Landlords of pubs in Clacton are familiar with Farage, often seen with a pint in his hand, making him an effective political campaigner.
"He stopped by today," says Louise Brockwell, who runs the Three Jays pub, gesturing to a pile of campaign posters left behind the bar. "When he shows up, people show up too."
While Farage has a large following, few Britons are as divisive as he is. His career has thrived on his willingness to use alarmist and confrontational language when discussing immigration. Since announcing his candidacy, he has warned supporters of an "invasion" of asylum seekers and was criticized by rival parties for suggesting that growing numbers of young Muslims "do not subscribe to British values."
Despite years of tough rhetoric and policies aimed at deterring the arrival of asylum seekers, Britain's asylum system is struggling. Legal migration has increased, benefiting understaffed public services, but putting stress on other parts of the socio-economic fabric like housing. Illegal migration has also soared, despite Sunak's promise to "Stop the Boats."
Put simply, Britain's approach to migrants and refugees is tougher, but less effective, than before.
In the Kentregion, just south of Clacton, one of the asylum seekers, named Masood, speaks to CNN: "It's not a comfortable feeling knowing that at any moment, a letter could arrive informing me to board a boat, or be sent to the Napier military barracks, a controversial detention site criticized by a group of MPs in 2022."
Born and raised in Afghanistan, Masood came to the UK on a student visa after studying in the UAE. He applied for asylum last year, and was immediately placed in a taxi, living in the hotel where he is still residing today. He fears for his safety back in Afghanistan, having spoken critically of the Taliban online before their 2021 takeover of the country. CNN is withholding his last name due to concerns it may impact his asylum claim.
"My entire family remains in Afghanistan, and they're urging me not to return," he shares. "I feel if I decided to go back, they might arrest me at the airport."
Masood describes his hotel as cramped, with most occupants sharing rooms. He mentions that many have mental health issues. Asylum seekers are legally prevented from working, but since taxpayers foot the bill for their accommodation, they're unable to contribute formally to the economy. However, Masood claims that despite this, "they're all working anyway... earning cash."
Regret in Brexit's spiritual heartland
If Brexit originated anywhere, it is in Clacton.
The decision of its former Conservative MP, Douglas Carswell, to switch to Farage's UKIP party in 2014 catalyzed Britain's Eurosceptic movement. Two years later, as debates on migration intensified, promises made by Farage and others to reduce migration resulted in seven out of ten people in Clacton voting to leave the EU. The town is one of the oldest, whitest, and poorest in the UK, factors that tend to support Brexit.
"Clacton serves as a weather vane," Carswell tells CNN now, reminiscing about a sense in the town that "those who control the state... treat them with utter disdain."
"There's been more discussion about these fundamental questions of governance and national identity in that part of Essex," adds Carswell, who co-founded the Vote Leave campaign during the referendum and is now President of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.
Once, Brexit divided Britain. Now, it unites the country: virtually no one thinks it is going well.
"I can comprehend why people voted out – the immigrants, foreigners. But hasn't it made a difference, hasn't it?" questions 73-year-old John Terrier, outside his home in Jaywick, a village west of Clacton. Terrier also voted to leave but has developed "Regrexit."
"What was the purpose of all this?" Terrier says, as he hammered a nail into a garden door. "I wouldn't mind returning if it were possible."
As he talks, his neighbor responds, outraged. Bob Brace, 69, attended Farage's rally last week. He wears a flag emblazoned with a Union Jack. "Is this not the most patriotic town in the country? I genuinely believe it is," he says.
Opinion polls suggest Britain would vote to remain in the EU today, though the public has no interest in holding another referendum. The painful memories of that entire project have, to a large degree, been swept under the rug; neither Sunak nor Labour leader Keir Starmer find any value in revisiting the conflicts of the past decade.
Instead, there are other concerns that demand attention. Jaywick, reputed to be England's most impoverished neighborhood, is populated by ramshackle beach chalets, with many vacant homes resembling decayed teeth. Residents here have numerous complaints, including the roads, healthcare, schools, but immigration-related issues are a common underlying theme.
And after the European Parliament elections of last week, where the UK no longer participates, some see a rising movement. "It's not just here. It's happening in France, the Netherlands, Germany, and they're all grappling with the same political crisis," says Karen French, a Reform supporter, enjoying coffee and a sausage roll by the shore. "I've seen their votes, and they're all heading towards the far right as well."
A political tempest brews
Initially, Farage announced he wouldn't run in the July 4 election, citing his intentions to campaign on behalf of Trump in the upcoming fall elections. But his subsequent reversal sparked both supporters and opponents, resulting in a milkshake being thrown on him and objects being hurled at his campaign bus in the past two weeks.
Farage declined to grant an interview for this article, as did the Labour and Conservative candidates in Clacton.
However, his entry into the race also stirred Conservative apprehensions of an electoral disaster.
"He's undoubtedly a divisive figure. However, electorally, it doesn't matter much," states James Johnson, who oversaw polling at Downing Street during Theresa May's premiership and then co-founded pollster JL Partners. "By those considering voting for him, he is extremely popular – more so than Queen Elizabeth II was among Britons, according to Johnson's data."
Not everyone in Clacton endorses Farage's message. "It's just smoke and mirrors," says restaurateur Dean Coles. "He's loud and aggressive, more show than substance."
Social worker Jehosh Adekiyesi has a straightforward approach: "People talk a lot of nonsense. When you give them attention, they talk more. Ignore them, and they become inconsequential," he states. "I don't regard him highly."
However, his influence might become increasingly significant; attracting just one-sixth of voters could drastically weaken the conservative party, amplifying his influence among opposition members.
Experts worry this could further deepen the divide between his supporters and the UK's asylum seekers.
"They urgently require a solution," Gardner emphasizes.
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In the context of the UK's migration debate, Nigel Farage's collaboration with former President Donald Trump in the United States is raising concerns among asylum experts and rights groups, who argue that Farage's presence has distorted the general perception of migration in the 'uk' and hardened attitudes towards asylum seekers around the world.
Nigel Farage, with his strong 'uk' stance on immigration, is drawing a crowd in Clacton, exponentially growing the support for his Reform party across Britain, potentially causing a crushing defeat for the Conservative Party and securing a significant role in 'uk' politics.
