It HAS been on the cards.
Because for some two decades now, the political parties, instead of challenging this biggotry and trying to isolate and minimise it, have been quitely emboldening it to milk it for votes. Or at the very least turning a blind eye to it while reaping the benefits.
Because they realised, it is easier to convince people they are angry and misunderstood, and target their protest vote, than it is to convince them they as a party are any good.
They all fucking did it, the Tories scapegoated and blamestormed their way through the Cameron years to get and keep those swing votes off Labour. The Faragists took it further getting the far right votes over the Tories, who in turn borrowed the rhetoric to show they can be as tough and as open to racism, now branded free speech. And Labour fucking hid and even did their own share of pandering to what they perceived as the prevalent mood.
And in those circumstances it was then so easy to amplify it with exaggerated and faked news, to the pointnthe established media tiptoed around it to not lose audiences.
And then they acted surprised at the appetite for prejudice-led Brexit. And Still pandered to it, the split in their own parties feeding the split in society, and branding any questioning of biggotry as 'elitism', to only further reinforce it.
We as a society are complicit too. Not only the layers buying into it, but those in denial, making excuses and accepting it, for our own political flag waving.
How many times did we see these arguements in the name of Brexit, where sensible grounded people just accepted hatred as a valid reason to pursue an agenda, excused ignorance and repeatedly and naively argued it had nothing to do with underlying reason for the whole thing. Which, btw was meant to solve this whole issue once and for all, and look where we are.
And even now, we see a large percentage of apologists, on these threads never mind out there. 'Hey, this is happening because people are 'angry', we understand that'. No, they are ignorant, prejudiced, and selfish arseholes. Let's start there.