As the byelection called by Nigel Farage approaches, one young couple do not know which candidates are standing. When I suggest to one affable young man covered in tattoos that migrants are blamed for the country’s problems, he agrees. According to recent census data, two-thirds of Muslim women have English as their main language, with 87.7% speaking the language proficiently. One young man intending to vote for Farage complains about Labour attacking disability benefits. The only way out is surely a politics which ends people’s resignation to decline – and offers some optimism.