Half of people think Keir Starmer is handling far right riots badly, YouGov polls says

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox

Get our free View from Westminster email

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Half of Britons believe Sir Keir Starmer is handling the riots sweeping the UK badly, a new poll has found.

Some 49 per cent of people said they felt the prime minister is dealing with the disorder poorly, while just 31 per cent of those surveyed said he was managing it well.

The polling, conducted by YouGov on Monday, also saw 43 per cent of respondents say home secretary Yvette Cooper was handling the situation badly, with only 23 per cent saying her response has been good.

Just 14 per cent of the 2,114 adults surveyed believed politicians generally were handling the unrest well.

One in three were supportive of non-violent demonstrations that have been held alongside the violent disorder.

Sir Keir, who held a second emergency Cobra meeting on Tuesday night, has warned that the rioters will face “the full force of the law”.

He also chaired an emergency Cabinet meeting, afterwards saying the government will “take all necessary action to bring the disorder to an end.”

But Tory leadership frontrunner Robert Jenrick accused Sir Keir of having “dithered and delayed” with his response to the riots, pointing out that it took him six days to call the first Cobra meeting.

Fellow leadership contender James Cleverly called for the government to be “much more proactive”, expressing concern that the prime minister has been too slow in his response to the unrest.

A “standing army” of more than 6,000 police officers are on standby to prepare for a new wave of violence at 39 demonstrations planned around the UK, with immigration lawyers, charities and support services expected to be targeted for further disorder on Wednesday evening.

Far-right thugs have engaged in violence in cities across the UK following wrongful claims on social media that the suspect accused of killing three young girls in Southport last week was a Muslim immigrant.

More than 400 people have already been arrested, with Downing Street suggesting that emergency measures used during the 2011 riots to allow courts to sit overnight could be implemented so that an influx of new cases can be prosecuted.

Director of public prosecution Stephen Parkinson last night told ITV News that there is potential for rioters to be charged under terrorism laws.

“If certain elements are in place, if behaviour of this kind is motivated by ideology or political persuasion, it’s designed to intimate the public, there’s an element of planning, we will definitely consider terrorism offences and those can result in even stiffer sentences”, he said.

Ministers also claimed to be bringing forward plans to free up 500 new prison places over the next month, including a new block at HMP Stocken, new cells at HMP Cookham Wood and remedial fire safety work on other cells.

On Tuesday, the government warned that rioters could be jailed for up to 10 years, with justice minister Heidi Alexander reiterating that those taking part in any disorder have “a prison place waiting for them”.

But the prime minister has faced accusations of “two-tier policing” in the UK, a far-right claim which has been used to justify the disorder, suggesting police are taking a softer approach with left-wing and Islamic protesters than they are with white working-class protesters.

On Tuesday Elon Musk launched a tirade against the government on his social media platform, X, sharing a number of far-right posts and graphics critical of the government’s handling of the disorder, one of which was posted under the hashtag #twotierkeir.

But Downing Street has rejected allegations of “two-tier” policing in the UK, with a spokesperson saying the government does not “recognise that characterisation”.