There is a conversation to be had about the impact of immigration and other cultures on this country, unfortunately these thugs have definitely not tried to have that conversation nor have any interest in it. I do feel over the past few years there has been a tendency to label anyone who questioned mass immigration or entry of foreign cultures as a racist or xenophobe, which has made proper conversation on the topic quite difficult and helped create the environment for these people to fester and the likes of Farage to take advantage of them.
Stephen Fry said something in a debate about political correctness where he said some on the left have been so ardent in pushing it and so unwilling to see any fault in what is being proposed that they have contributed to the extreme radicalisation of the right. I think the same has happened here. Now these people are scum and this isn't excusing their behaviour one bit but I think those on the left need to stop pretending there aren't concerns about immigration that need to be addressed and simply lumping them all together and palming it off as racism is exactly what the likes of Farage and Trump feed off, that victim mentality, people who can claim their voices are being silenced.