Can Keir Starmer unite a divided nation?

The New Statesman | UK politics and culture

The unrest and violence which gripped the country last week after the killing of three young girls seems to have halted for the time being. A brief sigh of relief. But this doesn’t mean that the anger - which was unleashed on asylum seekers, police, mosques, and local communities - or what may lie beneath it, has gone away.

The prime minister promised that rioters would feel ‘the full force of the law’. And he has been true to his word. As many as 1,000 people have been arrested so far and almost 550 charged.

But beneath the misinformation around the Southport murders of three little girls, what was the root of the rioters' anger? While some undoubtedly sought to sow division, and others went on opportunistic looting expeditions, there are genuine held concerns over immigration and the gulf between different societies in the UK. The immediate task of restoring law and order is one which perhaps comes easy to Keir Starmer, but now the harder, longer term job: What story will he tell to rebuild and re-unite this divided nation?

Hannah Barnes, associate editor, is joined by George Eaton, senior editor.

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