This could have been so much worse,” a Downing Street adviser tells me. “People were trying to set fire to a hotel with people inside. But the prime minister, they insist, is “focussed” – and after a career spent largely in the criminal justice system “knows which levers to pull”.
Sir Keir Starmer was the chief prosecutor of England and Wales during the last major outbreak of civil unrest in the UK in 2011, overseeing the prosecution of thousands of people involved in five days of rioting. Rapid and well-publicised action by the courts was key in bringing the unrest to an end, he said then. And this time ministers have emphasised “strong policing and swift prosecutions” to deter others joining the violence.
How best to get that message across to the public has been a regular discussion at emergency COBR (Cabinet Office Briefing Room) meetings.
Just as government scientists were front and centre in the pandemic, police chiefs and prosecutors have been wheeled out to land core messages with authority in this crisis. Stephen Parkinson, the otherwise low-profile Director of Public Prosecutions, was put before the cameras. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley made regular appearances. Yet the prime minister and his aides have pointedly avoided answering questions about the underlying causes of the riots.
I’m told the reason for this message discipline is a concern that discussing causes might be misinterpreted as suggesting some of the unrest was justified. What happens, though, when the violence stops, the guilty rioters have been sentenced and the COBR meetings are over? We are starting work on the longer term challenges,” sources say. Tackling these challenges – even deciding what they are – is set to be a crucial test for the new government, with consequences stretching far beyond the communities affected by this week’s disorder.
Source: BBC
In other news – Jennifer Lopez desperate for Ben Affleck’s attention
Jennifer Lopez is reportedly craving Ben Affleck’s attention. A new report of In Touch Weekly established that Jennifer Lopez is desperate to get Ben Affleck’s attention as she continues to flaunt how comfortable she is without him.
Ben is well aware that J. Lo’s been staging photo ops all around the Hamptons to try and look like she hasn’t got a care in the world,” a tipster shared. Read more
