The ‘racist thugs’ who rioted this summer were not ‘one and the same’ as those who have legitimate concerns about immigration, Sir Keir Starmer today told the Labour Party conference.
Condemning the ‘violent thuggery’ seen at the anti-immigration riots in July and August, the Prime Minister vowed to restore order, adding that though he would cut net migration, Britain would have to accept asylum seekers in exchange for a workable returns agreement.
Sir Keir said that he would ‘never accept the argument… that millions of people concerned about immigration are one and the same thing as people who targeted mosques… and told people who grew up here that they should “go home”.’
In recent weeks, hundreds of people have been through the court system for riot-related offences after clashing with police and attacking hotels housing asylum seekers during riots sparked by the Southport stabbings.
Bebe King, six, Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, died after they were fatally stabbed at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on Monday, July 29.
The riots were largely ignited by misinformation circulating online that the three young girls were killed by an asylum seeker.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, born in Cardiff to Christian parents, was subsequently charged with three counts of murder, as well multiple charges of attempted murder.
Despite being proven otherwise, false information continued to circulate online and was widely repeated by far-right social media activists such as Tommy Robinson and Andrew Tate.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, riots spread across the country in unrest not seen in Britain since 2011, when the fatal shooting of a black man by police triggered several days of street violence.
Police and prosecutors have responded rapidly, with roughly 1,300 people having been arrested and around 200 jailed – one for as long as six years for violent disorder.
Others have been charged for inciting racial or religious hatred online.
The Prime Ministers latest comments come just weeks after he blasted racist rioters who took to the streets after the Southport murders and warned they would not dictate government policy.
In a BBC interview the PM acknowledged that people have strong views on immigration, but that he was not prepared to tolerate that sort of disorder.
Sir Keir told the BBCs Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg there was racism there during the unrest in the early weeks of August, adding: Yes I accept that across the country people have strong views about things like immigration.
I accept that, but I am not prepared to tolerate that sort of disorder under any circumstances.
Nor will I change Government policy one bit as a result of that sort of violence.
Sir Keir added that he did not think Britain was a racist country, and pointed to the decent people who joined clean-up efforts following Augusts unrest.
He said: The real Britain was the people who came out the day after in Southport.
It was incredible, people came out with their trowels, with their brooms, they cleaned up, they rebuilt.
They are the real face of Britain and that is the Britain that I think is essential to reuniting and bringing this country back together.
Disorder was seen across a large swathe of Britain in the aftermath of the stabbings including in Southport, Manchester, Bolton, Rotherham, Nottingham and Bristol.
