Tory leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat has said riots this summer could have been stopped sooner, as he criticised the government’s response. In a speech, the shadow security minister said rioters should have been confronted earlier with an “overwhelming police presence”. Mr Tugendhat, one of six candidates vying to replace Rishi Sunak as Conservative leader, said Sir Keir Starmer “fell short” in his “first real test” as prime minister.
Sir Keir should have chaired an emergency cross-government meeting more quickly when violence flared, he argued.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said the government had responded “robustly” and accused Mr Tugendhat of “playing politics” in his leadership bid. On Monday, Downing Street said Sir Keir had abandoned his plans for a summer break to deal with the fallout of the riots.
The PM’s spokesman said the criminal justice system had acted quickly, with people involved in violence being charged and sentenced “within a matter of days”.
Ms Rayner rejected Mr Tugendhat’s attack, adding: “What is really helpful – like when the prime minister was in opposition and supported the prime minister at the time – is that you condemn the violence.”
She said “some of the challenges we face” were down to “14 years of failure of the Conservatives” and argued Mr Tugendhat’s party “should accept some responsibility for that”.
More than a thousand people have been arrested in connection with violent disorder in parts of England and Northern Ireland that began after three young girls were killed in a knife attack in Southport on 29 July.
The rioting over the course of the subsequent week included attacks on hotels housing asylum seekers, and was fuelled by a false rumour spread through social media that the suspect was a Muslim asylum seeker.
Source: BBC
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