Tory leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat claims Starmer failed country over riots

The Tory leadership hopeful claimed the Prime Minister ‘fell short’ in the first test of his premiership.

Tory leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat gives a speech in Westminster, central London on the recent riots and the breakdown of Britain’s social fabric. Picture date: Tuesday August 13, 2024. (PA Wire)

Shadow minister Tom Tugendhat has accused Sir Keir Starmer of a “failure of leadership” in his handling of the disorder that swept through parts of Britain while branding Nigel Farage’s intervention “deeply irresponsible and dangerous”.

The Tory leadership hopeful claimed the Prime Minister “fell short” in the first test of his premiership, before also hitting out at the policing response in the wake of the unrest, suggesting officers had not acted “without fear or favour” during some counter-demonstrations.

In a far-ranging speech in Westminster on Tuesday, the shadow security minister suggested Sir Keir should have gone further, for example by holding daily Cobra meetings from the start, but instead chose to “run as if he was still in opposition”.

And he insisted the structure of policing needs to change, proposing a new “national security police force” to deal with counter-terrorism and state threats and criticising the handling of some counter-demonstrations after the initial rioting.

“Last week we saw a senior officer from West Midlands Police explain that officers had been absent during violence by young Muslim men because they had discussed their plans with ‘community leaders to understand the style of policing we needed to deliver’,” Mr Tugendhat said.

“Criminal acts committed during protests, whether by Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil, or the Palestine Solidarity Campaign were not stopped, with police seeming to stand aside by the wayside.

“In Birmingham, police deferred to so-called community leaders while pubs and cars were attacked, windows broken and citizens intimidated.

“This is not as the police service requires, policing without fear or favour. No police officer should ever tolerate the presence of a militia, no matter what the provocation or the cause they claim.”

But Mr Tugendhat also hit out at Reform UK leader Mr Farage for criticising the breakdown of law and order before the riots “but not the riots themselves” in a “deeply irresponsible and dangerous” intervention.

He said the initial disorder seen on the UK’s streets was “completely unacceptable” and condemned “racist thugs” for their part in the unrest.

However, the leadership hopeful claimed the Labour Government was guilty of a similar failure of leadership and argued Sir Keir should have sacked Home Office minister Jess Phillips for her intervention during the unrest.

“Later when masked men gathered in Birmingham brandishing weapons and live on camera threatened female journalists and attempted to slash the tyres of broadcast vans, Jess Phillips, a Home Office minister, chose to justify their behaviour instead of condemning it because these were not far right hooligans but young Muslim men,” Mr Tugendhat said.

“This was a failure of leadership just as surely as that of Nigel Farage, and it is not the only failure of leadership by Keir Starmer’s Government over these last two weeks.”

Mr Tugendhat added: “This has been the Government’s first real test and the Prime Minister fell short.

“When Jess Phillips sought to justify the militia, vigilantism and violence, to excuse a militia on our streets, Keir Starmer should have sacked her, because ministers must always defend the principle of equality before the law.”

Elsewhere in his speech, the Tory leadership candidate:

– Described X owner Elon Musk’s claim that civil war was inevitable amid the UK riots as “delusional” and simply false.– Ruled out striking a deal with Reform UK if he became Conservative leader.– Claimed universities “indulge in ideologies of grievance instead of transmitting knowledge” and “schools, museums and galleries apologise for our country’s history” instead of “celebrating it”.– Said “equality of opportunity” had given way to “critical race theory” and the UK has seen the “politicisation of race” in recent years, which he claimed Labour will do nothing to reverse.– Proposed setting up a new “national security police force” to deal with counter-terrorism and replace Scotland Yard’s “confused mix of national and local responsibilities and its reporting to the Mayor and the Home Secretary, with each blaming the other”.

Reform UK chief whip Lee Anderson issued a statement in response to the speech, accusing the Tories of trying to “gaslight and shift the blame from their failures and broken promises over mass immigration”.

Mr Anderson also said: “The awful riots and social unrest we have seen on our streets have been sown by years of Tory failure. Politicians like Tom Tugendhat have failed to listen to community concerns over impacts on access to healthcare, school places and local jobs.”

A former soldier, Mr Tugendhat is one of six contenders for the Tory leadership, along with former home secretaries James Cleverly and Dame Priti Patel, former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, former business secretary Kemi Badenoch and former work and pensions secretary Mel Stride.

This is Mr Tugendhat’s second bid for the role, having stood in the first leadership contest in 2022. He was eliminated in the third round of voting by MPs.