Concerning potential symptom of flagging faith in the peaceful democratic process emerges as a poll suggests that a significant section of the public thinks that violence can be justified if politicians continue to overlook concerns around immigration.
A survey conducted by the British polling firm WeThink has painted a bleak picture for the future of the polity as an apparent breakdown in the trust of institutions to address the demands of the public has seemingly coincided with increasing willingness to back violent alternatives.
The poll, which surveyed 1,278 people between August 7th and 8th, during the height of the recent anti-mass migration riots that broke out across the UK, found that 39 per cent of respondents agreed with the statement: “When it comes to the refugee problem, violence is sometimes the only means that citizens have to get the attention of British politicians.”
Additionally, 34 per cent said that they felt attacks on refugee accommodations are “sometimes necessary to make it clear to politicians that we have a refugee problem,” while 32 per cent agreed with the notion that hostility towards refugees themselves is sometimes justified, even if such hostility ends in violence.
The survey also found that 36 per cent felt that “xenophobic acts of violence are defensible if they result in fewer refugees being settled in your town.”
So far, the riots, sparked by the mass stabbing at a children’s dance party by an alleged second-generation Rwandan migrant in Southport last month, have involved a tiny fraction of the UK population yet have seen over 1,000 people arrested.
Police chiefs have warned that hundreds more will face arrest in the coming days. The unrest has seen people clash with police, ethnic groups clash, the looting stores, and setting fires, including one at a reported migrant hotel in Rotherham, a town that gained notoriety for its central position in the child rape scandals of recent decades.