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Riots in Britain: What Is Behind the Violence?
The disorder in the streets demands robust policing, not just repression
Since 30 July 2024, riots have taken place in various parts of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland in the worst public disorder since 2011. This followed the tragic mass stabbing of children in Southport on 29 July. The initial riots in Southport and subsequent riots elsewhere were linked to information circulated on social media about the identity of the Southport attacker, as well as pre-existing Islamophobic and anti-immigrant sentiment.
Decades of inclusive and multicultural policies that British society has always prided itself on these days have turned into their exact opposite. The riots and violent clashes with the police revealed deep social problems that the British government and the media had ignored for years.
First of all, the riots in Britain are not a middle-class protest. The middle class, far more liberal and cosmopolitan than the rest of the citizenry, is not clashing in the street, fighting the police or looting shops. The middle class in the UK happily supported Keir Starmer in the last parliamentary election and went on holiday to Spain afterwards with a clear conscience. You will not see these people on the streets of London protesting against their government. As a resident of London I can confirm that the streets of Westminster are unusually empty today, with far more tourists than British middle class people or radical demonstrators.
The working class is back
The riots in the UK are primarily white working class protests, people with relatively low levels of education and income. If we look at a map, we see an interesting pattern. The protests have mainly been in the industrial north of the country (in addition to England we have also had major protests and clashes with police in Glasgow in Scotland and Belfast in Northern Ireland).
