But over the course of the year, a crisis, fuelled by the decision to leave the European Union, has been steadily, stealthily, stretching its tentacles around many of the services and products we expect and rely on.

Once an obscure idea confined to the darker corners of the internet, the anti-Islam ideology is now visible in the everyday politics of the west. How did this happen?

In January 2020, as Britain was about to exit the EU, a post appeared on the London School of Economics (LSE) blog musing about the mechanism and conditions that might apply if Britain ever wanted to re-join.

'It is hard to predict how full Brexit would play out, because this scale of multiple simultaneous renegotiations of global trade agreements is unprecedented – and no country has ever left the EU. It certainly can’t be assumed that Britain is bound to get quick and good deals because it is a large economy.'

Boris Johnson is poised to become prime minister thanks to a small, unrepresentative population of Brexiteer voters bent on destruction.

'I keep hearing my fellow unionists complaining that their anger over the existence of the Northern Ireland Protocol is not being recognised or taken seriously.'

Campaign group led by former Ukip donor Arron Banks accused of 'fake news' over viral video. / Pro-Brexit campaign group Leave.EU has been accused of faking a viral video of illegal "migrants" and forging images purporting to show immigrants committing violent crimes.

If not, and the vote is to exit, it will be no good saying afterwards that “we didn’t understand what we were voting for” – the repeated complaint made by eurosceptics about the 1975 Referendum. By then it will be too late.

Since the Brexit vote in 2016, Ukip is no longer primarily concerned with attacking the EU. Now led by Gerard Batten, the party has started to normalise far-right ideas and has given roles to figures including Tommy Robinson.

Jacob Rees-Mogg and Priti Patel tweet support for offshoot of US group accused of anti-Islam views.

LBC caller who once voted for UKIP told Shelagh Fogarty he now "deeply regrets" the decision and votes for Liberal Democrats.

He’s the most effective demagogue in a generation. Now he sets the agenda. / "The Brexit Party’s campaign was a one-man show. While it has a sophisticated digital strategy, the party has no members and no manifesto, and none of its candidates were democratically selected."

Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage, who once vowed to leave the country if Brexit turned out to be a disaster, has stated: "Brexit has failed."

Although a narrow majority UK-wide (not, of course, in Scotland) voted for Brexit, many have already realised it was a grave mistake. It is the biggest economic, diplomatic and ­constitutional mistake in the history of the ­United ­Kingdom. It is likely to be proximate cause of the ­United Kingdom’s ultimate ­collapse.

HMRC says millionaire owes money for inheritance tax liability on Ukip donations.

Hate-filled platform has no restrictions on antisemitic, misogynist or racist content. / Leading figures on the far right, including Ukip candidates in the upcoming European elections, are encouraging their followers to join a new hate-filled social media platform. The network, called Gab, has no restrictions on antisemitic, misogynist or racist content, and has been used to promote terrorism.

Police raid of Dean Morrice’s home found stockpile of chemicals and cache of terrorism manuals.

Candidate who made remarks about raping MP could be public order risk, says cathedral. / Exeter Cathedral has banned a Ukip candidate from taking part in hustings for Thursday’s European elections, saying he may be a risk to public order.

Leave campaigners behind project only won charitable status by vowing it would tell balanced story.

eter Jukes tracks Putin’s long war against democracy and the West – and the Russian President’s allies in Britain’s pro-Brexit establishment.

After China denied citizenship status to non-Chinese residents, about 7,000 ethnic minority families received full British nationality, granting them the ability to live across Europe and pass this status onto their descendants.

A FORMER MEP for UKIP, who defected and joined the Brexit Party, has warned voters to avoid his own colleagues ahead of December's general election. / "I would strongly urge anyone thinking of voting @brexitparty_uk not to do so...it is a hollowed out shell with no members but supporters and no manifesto"

Ukip, Tommy Robinson, the UK “yellow vests”, Democratic Football Lads Alliance and Leave Means Leave campaign are holding rallies in the capital, on the day Britain was due to leave the EU.

The private gaming community used by a YouTube star-turned-UKIP-candidate to recruit supporters for his European election campaign is rife with white supremacism, anti-Semitism, support for the Christchurch mosque terrorist, and discussions about murdering members of the European parliament.

A Ukip election candidate has refused to apologise for sending a rape tweet to Labour’s Jess Phillips, as the anti-EU party kicked off its European election campaign at a chaotic event.