Keir Starmer to be judged on his response to UK riots

“It could have been a lot worse,” a Downing Street adviser tells me. “People tried to set fire to a hotel with people in it.”

But the prime minister, they say, is “focused” and, after a career spent largely in the criminal justice system, “knows which levers to pull”.

Sir Keir Starmer was Chief Prosecutor for England and Wales during the last major outbreak of civil unrest in the UK in 2011 and oversaw the prosecution of thousands of people involved in five days of rioting.

Swift and well-publicised action by the courts had been crucial in ending the unrest, he said at the time. This time, ministers emphasised “strong policing and swift prosecution” to deter others from joining the guidelines.

How best to convey this message to the public is regularly discussed at extraordinary Cabinet Office Briefing Room (COBR) meetings.

While government scientists have been in the spotlight during the pandemic, police chiefs and prosecutors have been sent to authoritatively deliver the most important messages in the face of this crisis.

Stephen Parkinson, the otherwise little-known Director of Public Prosecutions, appeared before the cameras. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, appeared regularly.

However, the prime minister and his aides deliberately avoided answering questions about the causes of the riots.

I was told that the reason for such news discipline is a concern that discussing the causes might be misinterpreted to suggest that some of the unrest was justified.

But what happens when the violence stops, those responsible for the riots are convicted, and the COBR meetings come to an end?

“We are starting to work on longer-term challenges,” the sources say.

Addressing these challenges — and even defining what they are — will be a key test for the new government, and its consequences will reach far beyond the communities affected by this week’s unrest.

When police cars were burning in Britain, Chancellor Rachel Reeves he stayed in the USA, where he tried to improve the government’s reputation and attract investors.

On Monday she insisted that television images of far-right crowds clashing with police would not damage Britain’s international reputation as a “safe haven for investment”, describing the protests as “thuggery”.

But it’s hard to imagine a worse picture for a politician who was trying to promote stability and order in a newly elected government with a clear majority.

It is likely that cities and towns affected by the riots will receive government money to ease their rebuilding. Local community cohesion projects have also been considered.

But money is tight. The difficult economic outlook and the chancellor’s reputation for fiscal discipline may be why government sources tell me a costly public inquiry into the riots is unlikely.

After the Brixton riots of 1981, Lord Scarman led one. But David Cameron and Nick Clegg were reluctant to do the same after the riots in 2011. Instead, they commissioned a cross-party panel to draw conclusions.

This The role of social media will be the subject of a Whitehall review, with ministers admitting that the Cyber ​​Safety Act, which came into force only nine months ago, already needs updating and strengthening.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will have to confront a number of long-term political challenges that the events of the past week have exposed.

There has been consideration of banning far-right organisations, but groups such as the English Defence League (EDL) have not formally existed for almost a decade.

Instead, social media has changed the ecosystem of extremism into amorphous communities that are harder to controlbut thanks to this you can reach hundreds of thousands of people.

The government has so far avoided discussing immigration, fearing any concerns would be justified.

But in time they are likely to remind voters that the prime minister believes many people have legitimate concerns about legal and illegal migration.

The gradual reduction in the use of hotels to house migrants remains the policy of this government. But it was also the policy of the previous government – ​​with little success.

With Parliament adjourned and many Conservatives focused on their own election campaigns, much of the pressure for a policy response came from within the Labour Party, including interventions from London Mayor Sadiq Khan and former shadow cabinet minister Thangham Debbonaire.

Many Labour members believe that poverty and lack of development opportunities are the main factors.

Mental health and addiction have been repeatedly raised in the context of leniency in courts this week, but other defendants were drunk or caught up in the moment.

Men aged fifty and sixty, as well as boys aged 13 and 14, appeared before the judges.

Most towns and cities hit by the crisis in recent days are characterised by high levels of deprivation and above-average levels of accommodation for asylum seekers, analysis of Home Office statistics shows.

Regional inequality has remained virtually unchanged for decades, according to a report by the Resolution Foundation published this week.

“Poor places tend to stay poor, and rich places tend to stay rich,” author Charlie McCurdy told me.

“The only place that has made progress on regional equality is Germany. But it took three decades and the equivalent of the UK’s furlough scheme was spent every year.”

Rachel Reeves is unlikely to follow Germany’s lead, but recent events could reignite the debate over abolition allowance limit for two children.

Anti-poverty activists say this could be one of the fastest ways to reduce inequality.

One low-budget proposal would see the party allocate some of its 404 MPs to local communities and engage intensively with its constituents.

It was inspired by Margaret Hodge’s local campaign against the far-right, anti-immigration BNP party in Barking, east London, between 2006 and 2010.

The election of 12 BNP councillors in 2006 shook up the local political establishment, prompting a change of approach by the council and local Labour MPs.

“Back then, immigration and housing were the two biggest issues,” Ms Hodge says, explaining her methods of organising local meetings, listening to local concerns and trying to solve constituents’ problems.

“Everything I’ve done has been about reconnecting with voters, building trust. U.S. Senator Tip O’Neill said, ‘all politics is local,’ and that’s a lesson I’ve learned.”

In this endeavour Morgan McSweeney, now Keir Starmer’s election campaign mastermind and chief strategy officer, played his part as a young grassroots activist.

Allies say Mr McSweeney believes MPs from areas affected by the unrest need to focus their time on engaging and listening.

Some say the approach of Mr McSweeney’s mentor – the Labour thinker and former Dagenham MP Jon Cruddas – could also be used. He has long warned against the party becoming too urban and bourgeois and straying from its working-class roots.

The violence and looting over the past 10 days has prompted the prime minister to postpone his summer vacation with his family.

Instead, he will spend the next week working between the bustle of Downing Street and the tranquility of Chequers, the prime minister’s official country residence in Buckinghamshire.

Swift criminal justice may have quelled the immediate threat of violence. But Keir Starmer knows he will be held accountable for addressing the root causes.

Photo source: Getty Images

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