The Guardian view on Labour and the riots: speak for a better Britain

So far so good for the fightback? It began to seem so on Thursday. The rumour mill had threatened some 160 racist and rightwing gatherings across the country on Wednesday night. Almost every police force in England and Wales was on active alert to deal with the likelihood of violence. Some 6,000 riot-trained officers were deployed in multiple centres. Mosques, solicitors’ offices and shops were boarded up as if for the arrival of a hurricane.
In the event, the hurricane failed to show. There were around 30 isolated attempts to create trouble in places including Aldershot, Croydon, Bristol and Dover. But they were relatively small, all quickly snuffed out and dispersed. They were eclipsed by the far larger public response on the streets from peaceful crowds of anti-racists. Those numbers bore witness to a determination to preserve community cohesion and harmony in dozens of threatened places. They also spoke for public opinion more widely. On Wednesday, as the Met police chief, Sir Mark Rowley, put it, the people, the police and the courts did a good night’s work together. Hope not hate was the message of the hour.
People power and police planning may have turned the violent tide. But it is too early to be sure. There were incidents on Thursday in places including Barnsley, with others also signalled. The coming weekend will be tense. But the response of the criminal justice system has played a decisive role. On Wednesday, three rioters from Southport and Liverpool had been given heavy sentences of between 20 and 36 months in prison. That sent a clear message that must have caused even the most reckless racists to think twice.
On Thursday, the police and the courts doubled down on this deterrence strategy. In Liverpool crown court, Judge Andrew Menary followed up his Wednesday sentences with two more of 32 months, his sentencing televised to ensure the message gets through widely. The prisoners were not exercising a right to freedom of expression or assembly, he said. They were members of a baying mob, bent on vandalism, intimidation and violence. Other rioters were also jailed in Hartlepool and Plymouth, the latter within less than 72 hours of committing their offences on Monday.
The flow of cases is unlikely to stop soon. The director of public prosecutions says charges are being authorised “by the hour”. Police have so far made 149 charges against some of the 483 people arrested since the Southport stabbings less than two weeks ago, according to police numbers on Thursday. More will follow, including those arrested by a Met police operation for offences in London’s Whitehall last week. Some 70% of these were of people with criminal backgrounds. “Any suggestion that they are patriots or that they have a cause they are protesting about is nonsense,” said Sir Mark.
These are early days. Even if things continue to improve, there will be more to do, not least for ministers. Sir Keir Starmer’s criminal justice crackdown strategy is necessary. It seems to be working. But there is a bigger argument about rightwing nationalism and racism to lead too. After some terrible days since Southport, Wednesday’s rebuff of the racists showed the British public and their criminal justice institutions at their best. Ministers should not allow themselves to be overawed by the racial politics of the Conservative era. That legacy was the Tories’ doing. It remains the Tories’ problem. Labour should speak for a better Britain.