Tackle the agitators

August 2024

The riots across the UK over the past week both sadden and sicken me to the core.
I’ve lived in Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle-on-Tyne, and for the last 20 years in Manchester. I’ve founded businesses and opened offices across the North - from Stoke, Belfast, and Derby, to Leeds and Newcastle.

These are some of the many places rocked by violence in recent nights. I know these are communities where there are tensions, and where times have been, and still are for many, tough.

But I also believe that fundamentally these riots were not started or fuelled locally - they were stirred up by outside influences, peddling misinformation and fake news. But the local impact and cost is very high and very real.

Responding to all this is the first big test for hashtag#KeirStarmer after a honeymoon period of G7 meetings and Paris Olympic photo opps. He’s a former Director of Public Prosecutions so no stranger to law and order but there will be a lot of eyes on how the Labour party handle this.
So far the reaction has been no nonsense, crime is crime. And I hope the courts throw the book at the rioters.

But Starmer also needs to act against the disinformation-creators, the behind-the-scenes agitators, who are pulling the strings from afar. For me, that’s the bigger test. Calling out Elon Musk over his claim that 'civil war is inevitable' in the UK was potentially high risk, but the right thing to do by the prime minister.

These are also points well-made by the Financial Times, which notes too that these towns and cities need better public services, more investment - both public and private - to bring about more prosperity and growth. This will help ease fears about immigration, it writes.

I’d add that these riots don’t just damage the bricks and mortar - they damage the chances of companies wanting to put their money at risk by investing in jobs, industrial sites, offices and more.

Last weekend’s Celebrating Bold Street event in Liverpool was postponed because of the unrest, according to TheBusinessDesk.com. Encouragingly, Insider Media reported that 100k was raised to help businesses in Belfast rebuild and restart.

But yet again it’s the people distantly orchestrating the violence who’ll be least affected.

Let’s see proper action taken by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, the police, the Crown Prosecution Service, and others to hold them accountable.