Keir Starmer needs to get a grip on Britain’s riots

Hundreds of angry protesters have attacked a hotel in South Yorkshire, England, that has been used to house migrants and asylum seekers. Videos posted on social media show the police retreating under a hail of objects thrown by anti-immigration protesters outside the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham.

There are pictures of protesters hurling pieces of wood and chairs at riot police

The scenes are some of the worst so far as unrest across Britain enters its fifth day, after three young girls were stabbed to death in Southport last Monday. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in responding to the events in Rotherham, vowed “to bring these thugs to justice as quickly as possible.”

There are pictures of protesters hurling pieces of wood and chairs at riot police, while setting bins and furniture alight. The rioters are seen trying to smash the windows of the hotel before attempting to storm the building. The group, some clad in balaclavas, and others wearing Union Jack masks and draped in the St. George flag, launch themselves at police officers lined up to protect the hotel and the people inside. Glass bottles were thrown at officers, according to a BBC reporter at the scene. A bin was set on fire and others overturned. One image shows officers tending to an injured colleague inside the hotel: the officer was later carried away from the scene. The crowd could be heard cheering and chanting: “Get them out” and “Yorkshire.”

A group of young men held a banner that read. “We’re not far right, we’re just right.” Another placard being waved around said: “Stopping the boats means stopping the stabbings.” One report spoke of terrified people inside the hotel watching on from their rooms. Hundreds of onlookers, some accompanied by children, witnessed the shocking scenes unfold. The job of the police was made even more difficult by the presence of a small group of about 100 people who turned up to for a “Stand Up to Racism” counter protest. They held banners reading: “Refugees welcome: stop the far right.” Officers had to be deployed to keep the two groups apart, with tensions running high throughout.

There is no disguising the chaos on Britain’s streets, with vehicles set alight, shops destroyed, and innocent bystanders targeted. Arrests have been made, with warnings of more to come once CCTV and other evidence has been assessed. Extra prosecutors have been called in to work and the courts are sitting this weekend. These are welcome and significant moves but the crisis shows no signs of abating. If anything, the violence associated with the protests is becoming more serious by the day. The latest mayhem in Rotherham is proof of that. 

The former home secretary James Cleverly said rioters should be hit with “the full weight of the law,” pointing out that there could never be any excuse or justification or rationale for behavior like this. Keir Starmer was due to go on holiday with his family at the start of this week but Downing Street insists that the prime minister is working this weekend and next week. In his address to the country in the wake of the Rotherham riot, Starmer said time has been spent over recent days working with the police and justice system to “make sure that the necessary arrangements for law enforcement are in place.” He explained that this means the system can get “arrests, charge, remand and custody and conviction done very quickly.”

This sounds sensible enough but the words don’t match reality. This is the nub of the British government’s problem: unrest on the ground in numerous towns and cities is developing at pace and it tells a somewhat different story of increasing violence and mayhem. The prime minister must get a grip of this situation.

This article was originally published on The Spectator’s UK website.