UK riots: The hooded men chucking bricks and looting phone shops are not standing up for the working class

Keir Starmer has said that he believes that the unrest is co-ordinated by the far right. I’m sure this is true, and that Tommy Robinson or his ilk have a hand in it… or at least have helped to fan the flames of this over the past few months. But the people chucking rocks? They are not making political protests, they are just criminals. 

There’s a line of thuggery which has sat throughout the ages, often wrapping itself in union flags or St George Crosses; you could see it if you went to England football games in the 1980s or 1990s (and you can detect it coming back now), you could see it in the summer of 2011 when the EDL held protests in cities across the country. And you can see it now, a hot summer, a reason to take righteous anger, and a reason to lash out at authority. Not all patriots are thugs, but enough thugs are “patriots” to make you realise that they are being played.

The new country’s new right wing, personified by Nigel Farage and Reform, and the Suella Braverman-esque wing of the Tories, have taken deep delight in demonising asylum seekers, immigrants, the homeless and many others. They want to divide and rule. They want to ‘other’ groups, to create a shared target to unify the rest. And they cloak their hatred by claiming that they are speaking for “the working man”. It’s why Farage is always pictured with a pint, as he knows it will resonate with anyone watching the telly. And it’s why many of the commentators working for the more right-wing publications will decide that this is some kind of class-based howl, as it helps to justify their beliefs.

But here’s the thing. While some thugs may well be working class, most working-class people are proud of where they live (and work). This pride extends to not robbing shops, and to not attacking the police. Loving your community and your country doesn’t mean you need to destroy it. You can be as hard as nails and yet not smash up your local library - and you don’t deserve to have people projecting their divisive politics on to you.

And this is why the Police Commissioners’ chair Donna Jones’ comments were so off-beam. In a now-deleted statement, as well as correctly expressing her condemnation of “mindless criminal behaviour”, she argued that the rioters’ “questions” needed to be answered, including (her words)  “what is the government’s solution to mass uncontrolled immigration?”.

There are no questions to be answered. A summer of rioting can never be justified. These are thugs. Do not spare the punishment, and do not think of them as class heroes or raising questions about policy. They just want a fight.