No, Keir Starmer – Managerialism Won’t Beat the Race Riots

Ah yes, the sleepy weeks of the August silly season. What’s that? There’s been countrywide racist rioting by anti-immigration mobs, terrorising asylum seekers and people of colour? Last night was our first riot-free evening in over a week? Thousands of police are on standby in case of further far-right violence this weekend? Find me a paper bag to breathe into.

First, to the prime minister. Since the rioting started on 30 July, Keir Starmer has been consistent in his vow that those found guilty of public order offences will face “the full force of the law”. His first moves were to meet with senior police officers, set up a new violent disorder taskforce, convene COBRA meetings and to promise a “standing army” of specialist cops. The sight of a competent state administrator is enough to send the sensibles of the centre left into raptures. But it’s undeniable that there’s a certain something missing.

Ask yourself this question: what would Tony Blair have done if large scale racist rioting had broken out in his first month of being PM? You can easily picture him in rolled-up shirtsleeves, staring down the barrel of the camera, and laying out his vision of Britain. In short, he’d have seized the crisis as an opportunity to define his political project. It might have been one those to his left might have disagreed with profoundly, but there’d have been no quibbling over his sense of purpose.

Starmer, however, has been oddly lacklustre when it comes to the messaging around these racist riots. His instincts are procedural rather than political, administrative rather than inspiring. This could have been a moment to fight for an inclusive and forward-thinking model of Britishness, in line with the values of fairness and tolerance. He could have pointed to the community-led counter-protests in Walthamstow, Brighton and Liverpool as evidence of what Britons are really like. Instead, he retreated to his comfort zone: meetings, minutes, and setting up specialist units. Someone in Downing Street should remind him he’s prime minister, and not director of public prosecutions.

The far right is already on the front foot with a new set of weaponised grievances. In addition to small boats and asylum hotels, which both became mainstream issues after a one-man media campaign waged by Nigel Farage, the myth of “two tier” policing is being deployed as a catalyst for resentment. The central claim is that the police handle Muslims, minorities and the left with kid gloves, while cracking down on white people and the right. These claims don’t stand up to scrutiny: there have been fewer arrests at Palestine protests because there has been nothing you could compare to the violence of the past two weeks. Police withdrew in Harehills, Leeds because they were outnumbered, and during recent attacks on asylum accommodation, you can see cops standing back as rioters attempt to set a hotel on fire. Two tier policing doesn’t exist – but the truth doesn’t matter to far right agitators.

Will Starmer seize the political momentum? There are policy decisions to be made in the coming months. That of ‘dispersal’ – housing asylum seekers in poorer parts of the country because it’s cheaper for the Home Office – has long been a recipe for division and resentment. Though racism is certainly the defining feature of these riots (the “F**k P**is” graffiti speaks for itself), the impact of poverty, austerity and decades of deindustrialisation shouldn’t be dismissed. Analysis by the FT shows that seven out of the ten most deprived areas of England have witnessed rioting in the past fortnight. There are parallels to be drawn between now and the 2011 riots: though there is a big difference in the political motivations, a good rule of thumb is that happy communities with ample economic opportunities don’t set stuff on fire.