New polling by YouGov suggests that more Britons believe Sir Keir Starmer is handling the riots badly than believe he is doing a good job.
Reflecting this, Starmer’s recent critics can be found across the political spectrum and from within the law enforcement community. A former Metropolitan Police Commissioner has said he is “not hugely impressed” with the Labour government’s use of strong phrases to try to “show that they’re in charge,” amid riots sweeping the country following the killing of three young girls in Southport last week.
Sir Paul Stephenson added—after a Labour minister was accused of “making excuses” for intimidation by “favoured groups”—that “most of the thugs involved in this couldn’t spell right or left, let alone think politically.”
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer’s focus on the involvement of right-wing activists in national protests has earned him the nickname “Two-tier Keir”—one even promoted by X/Twitter owner Elon Musk—after no arrests were made of rioting Muslims in Birmingham earlier this week. One senior police official later suggested that his force’s presence was purposefully limited following a discussion with “community leaders” about a certain “style of policing.”
West Midlands Police Federation Richard Cooke said that “you look at these videos [of the scenes in Birmingham] and it does look bad. You see a load of thugs in balaclavas waving knives around, and you don’t see any police.” Cooke added:
I just wonder whether there is the determination to deal with everyone on all sides with equal ferocity given the stance taken by the political leadership of labelling ‘far-right’—which may well be the case—but there are clearly other elements coming into play.
Commentator Phillip Blond also likened the PM’s—and, for that matter, much of the media’s—approach to different groups involved in riots to the “American trend” in conceptualising violent assembly.
The prime minister has chaired two emergency Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms (COBRA) meetings since the beginning of the disorder, but former Met Commissioner Stephenson noted that these are sometimes called “so that politicians can be seen to be doing something.” He suggested that in order for these meetings to be effective, there needs to be “clear focus, the right experts, and [the certainty] that the intelligence is accurate and comprehensive.”
More than 100 more demonstrations are expected to take place tonight, on August 7th.
