Farage warns ‘Britain now is lawless’ as there is a ‘breakdown of society’

Nigel Farage has warned that Britain is experiencing a “breakdown of society”, arguing that rising concerns over crime and disorder are evidence of a wider erosion of social cohesion.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, the Reform UK leader said the UK was becoming “lawless”, sharpening the party’s focus on policing and public order as it seeks to expand its support ahead of the next general election.

Farage’s comments come as crime, policing and the visibility of low-level disorder remain politically contentious issues.

Reform has increasingly argued that the state has lost control over parts of the criminal justice system, pointing to prison capacity constraints, early-release policies and concerns over police resources.

“We are living through a breakdown of society,” Farage said.

The Reform UK leader continued:  “We are in no doubt, as a party, that Britain now is lawless. I guess the reason it’s so little discussed is that for the Labour and Conservative parties to enter into this debate, they would have to admit their own culpability.

“Whether it is the streets of London, where men dare not wear watches and women dare not wear jewellery, to what is happening and the constant living in fear that we see in our rural communities, everyone knows the state of law and order is considerably worse than it was five or 10 years ago.”

The intervention is likely to reinforce Reform’s positioning around tougher policing and sentencing, while placing pressure on the government to demonstrate that it can restore confidence in the criminal justice system.

For Labour, the challenge is particularly acute as it attempts to establish its own credibility on law and order while managing an overcrowded prison system and the political consequences of early-release measures.

Farage’s language also reflects a broader political argument about whether Britain’s problems are primarily the result of inadequate enforcement or deeper economic and social pressures.

For Reform, however, the message is straightforward, the state that cannot enforce its laws risks losing public confidence in its authority.