We need to lock up thugs rioting in the streets – and then confront the real problem

Days of unrest across England’s towns and cities – which have seen mosques targeted, hotels housing asylum seekers attacked, police officers injured and countless acts of vandalism by far-right rioters – are forcing us to confront an ugly and hateful element in our country. 

What should have been a period to come together and mourn after the horrific murders of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, has been hijacked by thugs and extremists. 

The question now is what to do about it.

Some, such as Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, while condemning the violence, have suggested that far-right violence is a reaction to the fear and unease shared by tens of millions of people.

Right-wing academic Matt Goodwin says we are witnessing “the direct result of failed policies including ‘mass uncontrolled immigration’”. Shadow Welsh secretary Lord Davies of Gower (in words he says were misconstrued and which he has apologised for) appeared to imply disorder was justified by Labour opposing the Rwanda Bill.

Others have spoken of the “legitimate concerns” of the rioters on issues such as immigration and suggested that this moment needs to be the start of a conversation on those issues.

In my view, all of these responses are not only wrong but do a deep disservice to millions of ordinary Britons and their concerns.

Of course, it is true that people have worries about immigration. Eighty-two per cent of the public say they are concerned about the number of people coming to the UK illegally. A majority think that levels of immigration to the UK need to be reduced.

And disillusionment with politics is far wider than just on the issue of immigration; in focus groups that More in Common runs across the country every week, we hear frustration from people about their relatives being stuck on waiting lists, despair at the soaring price of energy bills and real anger at the sense of “one rule for them” for politicians following scandals like Partygate.

But the simple fact is that the vast majority of Britons, whether they are concerned about immigration or the NHS, not only would never dream of taking part in hateful riots but are actively appalled by what they have seen.

When speaking to voters in Leigh in Greater Manchester last week, Robert, a Reform UK voter, summed up the attitude of most ordinary Britons when he said of the rioters: “We are a country based on rule of law. If we lose that we’re just a bunch of savages, and that’s what those people are, just a reckless bunch of savages.” He was joined by Pat who called the rioters “disgusting”, and Karin who called them a “disgrace”.

In March, we found seven in 10 believe racism remains a serious issue in the UK (including a majority of Reform UK voters). In that same poll over two-thirds of the country (including half of Reform UK voters) said the same of far-right terrorism.

In appearing to suggest the rioters may be channelling the concerns of those like Reform UK voters, Farage has done a deeper disservice to them than any of his political opponents. Indeed, if the Conservatives are serious about tackling the threat that Reform UK poses to them, they will seize on this moment to establish themselves firmly as a party unequivocally on the side of law and order. 

It is also true that some on the left, albeit in less prominent positions, have made a countercase that the riots are the result of Conservative government rhetoric on “stopping the boats” and that the zero-tolerance policy on Channel crossings is to blame.

These commentators are guilty of a different problem, which can feed the grievance narrative far-right cheerleaders want to project. Wanting to tackle dangerous Channel crossings is not “far right”, nor is wanting an immigration policy which finds the right balance between compassion and control, nor is supporting Brexit. We shouldn’t pretend that far-right thugs need excuses in the form of Home Office policy to perpetrate their acts of violence.

Instead, what needs to happen now begins with restoring law and order. Belief in law and order is one of the central tenets of the British psyche and I have no doubt, not least given the overwhelming majority of Britons favour harsher sentences, that a zero-tolerance approach is one that will find favour.

Whether these thugs are motivated by far-right ideology or a general desire for violence and disorder, an approach which confronts them with the full force of the policing and criminal justice system is one that will command broad public support.

This is not two-tier policing. As Priti Patel – hardly a champion of the liberal left – has pointed out, there is a major difference between Black Lives Matter protests, which took place under Covid restrictions, or even disruptive protest activity such as blocking streets, and attacking and vandalising libraries, hotels, and places of worship.

Indeed, having seen Just Stop Oil protestors sentenced to hefty prison sentences (something supported by the public) it is hard to take any claims of two-tier justice seriously.

After the riots are brought under control, this conversation needs to turn not to immigration – I have no doubt that debates about immigration will (and should) continue to take place over the next parliament. Instead, we need to have a more serious approach to integration, social cohesion, and counterextremism.

For too long we have neglected these issues, with cohesion policy reduced to hoping everyone will be nice to each other. Such wishy-washy notions of social cohesion have done nothing to build the sort of resilient multi-ethnic society most Britons want to see. Doing so means a properly funded three-tier approach.

That approach firstly needs to root out extremism – whether on the far right or elsewhere – and tackle freedom-restricting harassment. Secondly, it needs to create country-wide expectations on integration that are serious about promoting the British/liberal values of democracy, respect for the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance, values which the rioters have so wantonly disregarded.

Thirdly, it needs to properly tackle social isolation and segregation both in the online and offline space – starting in our education system.

The rioters and their mouthpieces want us to think that Britain is irredeemably broken. It isn’t – but having handed them the justice they deserve, our focus then needs to turn more seriously to the task of building the more resilient, cohesive society that we overwhelmingly want to live in.

Luke Tryl is UK director of the More in Common think tank