Fears of summer of riots intensified after Angela Rayner warned public anger over immigration is damaging social cohesion. The Deputy Prime Minister told Cabinet colleagues they had to acknowledge the “real concerns people have” hours after anti-migrant clashes spread to Norfolk.
She also cited economic insecurity, the rapid pace of deindustrialisation and declining trust in institutions as she gave an update on her work on social cohesion and a coming plan for neighbourhoods. Around 150 people gathered on Monday night outside the Park Hotel in Diss for a “peaceful” protest after the Home Office announced plans to change it from housing asylum-seeker families to single men.
But footage posted on social media, including by supporters of far right activist Tommy Robinson, showed clashes between pro and anti-migrant groups.
It followed violence outside a hotel in Epping, Essex after an asylum seeker was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl eight days after arriving in the UK.
Sir Keir Starmer has been warned that Britain is a “powder keg” that could explode into a repeat of the street violence that followed the Southport murders 12 months ago – unless Labour gets a grip on migrant hotels.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has warned Britain is getting close to “civil disobedience on a vast scale” while insisting the violence in Epping was caused by a few “bad eggs”.
The Prime Minister said the country will never forget the “unimaginable tragedy” of Southport as he closed his last Cabinet meeting before the summer recess.
“(Ms Rayner) said it was incumbent on the Government to acknowledge the real concerns people have and to deliver improvements to people’s lives and their communities,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said.
Disorder erupted across the country last July and August, sparked by misinformation spreading on social media in the wake of the Southport stabbings.
The Deputy Prime Minister said that 17 of the 18 places that saw the worst disorder rank at the top of the most deprived and that “while Britain was a successful multi-ethnic, multi-faith country, the Government had to show it had a plan to address people’s concerns and provide opportunities for everyone to flourish”.
Asked whether Ms Rayner sees a link between immigration and the violence seen during the disorder, No 10 said: “I think she sees a link between concerns that people have about where the Government is acting on their behalf and acting in their interests, and a range of factors.
“High levels of immigration over the last 10 years, including illegal immigration, but also, importantly, the cost of living, economic security, the rapid pace of technological change and deindustrialisation and changes in the economy, these are all factors that have had an impact on our social fabric and social cohesion.”
There is no specific timetable in place for the plan for neighbourhoods, which will hand out £1.5 billion to invest in 75 areas over the next decade.
Labour MPs have voiced fears that the country could see violence before they return in September, in a rerun of 12 months ago.
The demonstration in Norfolk started with around 60 people shouting “we want our country back”.
They were met by about 30 counter-protesters from Stand Up To Racism holding signs that read “refugees welcome”.
South Norfolk Council has opposed plans to change the use of the hotel to single adult male migrants, saying it only learned about it in a brief email from Whitehall last week. The Home Office is in contact with Adrian Ramsay MP and the council.
The local authority argued families at the hotel had become part of the local community and replacing them with single men could see tension boil over as it has in other parts of the country.