Cooper calls out ‘shameful behaviour’ of senior politicians who sought to undermine police during violent disorder
Overnight, writing in the Telegraph, home secretary Yvette Cooper has said that the country needs to restore respect for its police force. In an implicit criticism of the leadership of Reform UK, she said she would not engage in the “shameful behaviour” of those who “sought to undermine the legitimacy and authority of the police”.
In the article, Cooper also criticises those who have attempted to justify rioting under the guise that people have “legitimate concerns”. Cooper said:
These attacks on local communities and indeed on the police have been a disgraceful assault on the rule of law itself. Those who try to suggest that this violence is about protest and grievance are making excuses for criminals and thugs.
Lots of people across Britain have strong views on law and order, immigration, and the NHS. But they don’t pick up bricks and throw them at the police, loot shops or wreck cars, attack people because of the colour of their skin, or set light to buildings knowing people are inside.
She also took aim at politicians who have been seeking to use the rhetoric of “two-tier policing”, writing:
We will work with the police, rather than just blaming them from afar, to tackle problems and raise standards. And we won’t engage in the kind of shameful behaviour we have seen from some senior politicians and pundits who sought to undermine the legitimacy and authority of the police, just at the time they needed our full backing to restore order to the streets.
Her article concludes “There is lots of rebuilding to be done in our communities after the damage of the last fortnight. Respect for the police, respect for the law, and respect for each other is where we must start.”
Key events
Starmer, Macron and Scholz issue joint statement on war in Middle East
Prime minister Keir Starmer, alongside France’s president Emmanuel Macron and the Germany chancellor Olaf Scholz have issued a joint statement on war in the Middle East. The statement, which does not mention Israel by name, calls on Iran to de-escalate tensions.
In it the statement says “We have been working with all parties to prevent escalation and will spare no effort to reduce tensions and find a path to stability. The fighting must end now, and all hostages still detained by Hamas must be released. The people of Gaza need urgent and unfettered delivery and distribution of aid.”
It adds “we call on Iran and its allies to refrain from attacks that would further escalate regional tensions and jeopardise the opportunity to agree a ceasefire and the release of hostages. They will bear responsibility for actions that jeopardise this opportunity for peace and stability.”
Andy Beckett writes for the Guardian this morning, asking if last week’s protests were really anti-racist or just against far-right thugs?
Even the rightwing press, its instinctive prejudices temporarily outweighed by a fear of falling out of step with its readers, has felt compelled to cover the counterprotests positively at times. “United Britain stands firm against thugs,” said the Daily Express last Thursday, above a front-page picture of massed counterprotesters in a left-leaning part of London, as if the paper had momentarily been taken over by an anti-racist collective.
And yet, such vital, photogenic political victories need to be considered alongside much less uplifting, equally lingering experiences – of people of colour closing their businesses early, or too scared to go out, as if subject to some racist lockdown – if the damage the far right has done over the past fortnight is to be understood and then reversed.
Keir Starmer, the ex-prosecutor, is making sure that plenty of violent racists go to prison, but their obsessions will not be so easily confined. When and if the next racist surge comes, how the state, society and the media respond will again reveal with startling clarity what kind of country we are becoming: one actively committed to multiculturalism, grudgingly accepting of it, or still fundamentally hostile.
Read more here: Andy Beckett – Were UK protests against far right anti-thugs or anti-racist? The answer will tell us much about our nation
Man arrested after attack on mosque in Newtownards, Northern Ireland
Three men will appear in court in Northern Ireland on Monday, facing charges connected with recent rioting in Belfast, and a man has been arrested after an attack on a mosque in Newtownards.
The man, 42, was arrested on suspicion of several offences including attempted arson, possessing a petrol bomb and attempted intimidation. A petrol bomb was thrown at the mosque in Co Down in the early hours of Saturday with graffiti sprayed on the front door and walls of the building. The attack has been condemned by Northern Ireland’s first minister and deputy first minister
PA Media reports a 26-year-old man has been charged with a number of offences, including riot, arson, conspiracy to commit arson, three counts of possession of an offensive weapon with intent, and two of criminal damage.
A 58-year-old man has been charged with possessing written material intended or likely to stir up hatred or arouse fear, and a 30-year-old man has been charged with intentionally encouraging or assisting riot, publishing written material intended to stir up hatred, sending menacing messages through a public electronic communications network, and possession of fireworks without a licence.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and Elon Musk have been acting like best buddies on social media again, with the unelected billionaire agreeing with a Farage claim that “Keir Starmer poses the biggest threat to free speech we’ve seen in our history”.
It should be noted that the current administration is yet to pass any legislation, and police and the courts are all currently acting on laws about protest and publishing statements online enacted by the previous government.
My colleague Archie Bland has more this morning on Musk’s decision over the last few days to try to insert himself into British politics:
Musk has shown no sign of deferring to the norms of other countries where his absolutist theory of free speech might find less support than in the US. The Guardian’s global technology editor Dan Milmo points out “He made the decision to reinstate Tommy Robinson and Andrew Tate,” both figures who were banned in the past.
“You’ve seen the direct effects of that in their influence over the past couple of weeks. And his own interventions since the Southport attack have certainly been the most provocative he’s ever made in the UK. Before Musk arrived, I’m pretty confident that a lot of the most incendiary content would have been taken down. But they don’t do that sort of moderation any more.”
As well as entering a war of words with Keir Starmer and personally promoting accounts that dubiously claim the danger of the rioters has been overstated while Muslim troublemakers go unpunished, he has reportedly ignored requests from the government’s disinformation unit to take down posts that it believes are inciting violence.
Read more here: Monday briefing – How Elon Musk is shaping a dangerous political moment
Deputy leader of Reform UK, Richard Tice, has not had much truck with home secretary Yvette Cooper’s call that it is has been “shameful behaviour” from senior politicians who, she said, “sought to undermine the legitimacy and authority of the police, just at the time they needed our full backing to restore order to the streets.”
This morning he has posted a link to her article, adding the message “So home secretary, when will Manchester airport assailants of police officers be charged? It was almost 3 weeks ago. Rioting thugs attacking police correctly being charged, what about airport thugs attacking police?”
So Home Secretary, when will Manchester airport assailants of police officers be charged? It was almost 3 weeks ago.
Rioting thugs attacking police correctly being charged, what about airport thugs attacking police? https://t.co/3rn2PgwB5h
— Richard Tice MP 🇬🇧 (@TiceRichard) August 12, 2024
Cooper calls out ‘shameful behaviour’ of senior politicians who sought to undermine police during violent disorder
Overnight, writing in the Telegraph, home secretary Yvette Cooper has said that the country needs to restore respect for its police force. In an implicit criticism of the leadership of Reform UK, she said she would not engage in the “shameful behaviour” of those who “sought to undermine the legitimacy and authority of the police”.
In the article, Cooper also criticises those who have attempted to justify rioting under the guise that people have “legitimate concerns”. Cooper said:
These attacks on local communities and indeed on the police have been a disgraceful assault on the rule of law itself. Those who try to suggest that this violence is about protest and grievance are making excuses for criminals and thugs.
Lots of people across Britain have strong views on law and order, immigration, and the NHS. But they don’t pick up bricks and throw them at the police, loot shops or wreck cars, attack people because of the colour of their skin, or set light to buildings knowing people are inside.
She also took aim at politicians who have been seeking to use the rhetoric of “two-tier policing”, writing:
We will work with the police, rather than just blaming them from afar, to tackle problems and raise standards. And we won’t engage in the kind of shameful behaviour we have seen from some senior politicians and pundits who sought to undermine the legitimacy and authority of the police, just at the time they needed our full backing to restore order to the streets.
Her article concludes “There is lots of rebuilding to be done in our communities after the damage of the last fortnight. Respect for the police, respect for the law, and respect for each other is where we must start.”
Welcome and opening summary …
Welcome to our rolling coverage of UK politics for Monday. Home secretary Yvette Cooper has said that in the wake of far-right riots in England and Northern Ireland there is a need to rebuild respect for the police, and she has criticsed senior politicians for the language they have used, she said, to undermine the police. More on that in a moment. Here are the rest of your headlines …
It is Martin Belam with you today. Do email me if you spot typos, errors or omissions – martin.belam@theguardian.com.