Sir Keir Starmer’s total focus on cracking down on the “far right” rather than taking time to deal with the “fear, discomfort, unease” in the community after the mass knife attack on young children shows the Prime Minister “hasn’t got an earthly clue how to deal with it”, Nigel Farage warns.
Three children were stabbed to death and eight injured, some of them critically, at an attack at a dance party in Southport, Merseyside, England on Monday. The attack has been followed by a number of protests and riots across the United Kingdom, with more confrontations expected by police on Friday night.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer made an address to the nation on Thursday night, just days after the mass stabbing against young children, to make clear the greater issue facing the nation was the riots against the stabbing. He promised the full force of the law, a new police command against rioters, and facial recognition technology to track activists.
Responding, Reform UK and Brexit leader Nigel Farage added his own condemnation of “street violence… thuggery” but said Sir Keir’s remarking “the immediate challenge is driven by far-right hatred” betrayed his position.
Mr Farage said, making clear Starmer was focussing on the symptom, not the cause: “No, the far right are a reaction to fear, to discomfort, to unease that is out there shared by tens of thousands… Let’s have proper law and order. But Mr Starmer, just to blame a few far-right thugs to say that is the root of our problems, doesn’t work.”
He continued: “Let me be clear, I don’t support street violence. I don’t support thuggery in any way at all. But I am worried, not just about the events in Southport, but about the societal decline that is happening in our country. Law and order on our streets is breaking down and this Prime Minister hasn’t got an earthly clue how to deal with it.”
The Brexit leader called for a “tough” legal response to knife crime, saying there should be a strong return to stop and search, which fell out of favour over racism complaints, as it was claimed police were disproportionately targeting black men for the searches. Mr Farage continued: “We need to use stop and search, regardless of the colour of skin of anyone that gets stopped. We need tougher prison sentences for anyone caught carrying a knife.
“We need folks to get real, because I tell you what: what you’ve seen on the streets of Hartlepool, of London, of Southport is nothing to what could happen over the course of the next few weeks.”
Robert Jenrick, the Conservative Member of Parliament who is running to take over the leadership after Rishi Sunak steps down in Autumn hit some of the same notes in a speech launching his candidacy on Friday afternoon.
The would-be Tory leader touched upon some criticisms levelled against the Prime Minister and Home Secretary this week that there is an element of two-tier policing in response to civil unrest, where recent riots among diverse communities have had a gloves-on response, while the predominantly white, working class riots this week have had the dogs — literally — set on them. Making implicit he is against riots and civil unrest, but against it from all rioters, not just from particular communities, Jenrick said: “I want to back the police, I want to ensure they can take the robust action they need against these individuals, and against people like them in all the incidents we’ve seen in recent months right across the country.
“Because I do not want to live in a country where incidents like this, where disturbances like this, are happening ever again.”
Jenrick also took the time to speak of the riots in tandem with the event that triggered them — the mass stabbing — which seems to have already been forgotten by some in the rush to condemn the rioters. He said: “I am a father of three young daughters, and this was the most horrific crime. My thoughts and prayers are with those victims and their parents right now. I think there is an important lesson from this, which is from this incident and others across the country, they are revealing there is too much disrespect for our police and for law and order.”
As reported yesterday, Mr Farage’s comments come amid a background of repeated accusations that he personally holds some responsibility for the riots this week having taken place at all. As stated:
The move to name the alleged child killer today follows several figures questioning the wisdom of keeping the public in the dark when there is such significant interest, and evident opportunity for unrest. Last night, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage MP said he had raised questions about the government withholding so much information from the public, noting: “it seems whenever these things happen, there is a reluctance to tell us the full truth… the need to play down the incident”.
The information vacuum, Farage said, has caused the riots and protests. He said: “the internet was awash with all sorts of theories, all of which proved to be unfounded. That’s what led to the riots last night. That’s what led to people being outside that riot in Southport.”
Suggesting a different way, Mr Farage said: “sometimes just tell the public the truth, and you might actually stop riots from happening”.
That Mr Farage has expressed disquiet about the information vacuum situation in recent days has led to major criticism from some left-wing figures in recent days, who have accused him of spreading conspiracy theories by posing questions, or of actively encouraging riots. Among them are former London counter-terrorism police boss Neil Basu, called a “woke” police chief by some, who said Mr Farage had failed to keep his “mouth shut”.
“Has Nigel Farage condemned the violence? Has he condemned the EDL?”, Basu asked, without apparently engaging with the fact Mr Farage has been condemning the EDL for years.
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