Nigel Farage’s Small Boats Moral Panic: How Reform UK Turns Immigration Into Fear Politics

Nigel Farage’s Small Boats Moral Panic: How Reform UK Turns Immigration Into Fear Politics

Clacton-On-Sea, Easter 1964: Thousands of British youths from rival “Mod” and “Rocker” subcultures swarm the beach on a bank holiday weekend. Scuffles break out in the seaside town. The actual disturbances are minor – a few broken deck chairs, some rowdy teenagers – yet the national media reaction is anything but minor. Newspapers thunder about rioting youth in terms of “disastrous proportions,” branding Mods and Rockers “vermin” and “internal e…