A look back of summer 2024 in UK politics

Featuring:

• UK riots and the government response
• Politicians pressure Starmer to recall Parliament
• Rayner launches Labour’s house-building plans
• Labour’s Operation Early Dawn 
• The Tory leadership campaign
• Starmer warns that the UK “is going to get worse” before it gets better 

With Parliament’s return on Monday 2 September, politics will be back to business as usual. Here is our roundup of this summer’s political events.

UK riots and the government response

The UK’s news headlines this summer have been dominated by the riots and protests that occurred in the aftermath of the Southport stabbings in late July. 3 young children were tragically killed at a dance class in Southport, prompting rioting in the area, which subsequently spread to other parts of the country as a broader anti-immigration movement.

Many rioters falsely believed, thanks to misinformation online, that the murderer was a Muslim asylum seeker, but it was later revealed that the 17-year-old was born in Wales to Rwandan parents. Keir Starmer denounced the “far-right hatred” of the rioters who attacked the police and community mosques in Southport, and said that a new “national capability” would be deployed to control further violence. Starmer also went to lay flowers in Southport to pay his respects, but was met with a hostile reception by onlookers, with one shouting “How many more children, is it mine next?”. 

In their entirety, the anti-immigration unrest spanned around 2 weeks from late July to August 10th. Following the events in Southport, demonstrations and violence occurred in Manchester, Hartlepool, Aldershot, Tamworth, Sunderland and elsewhere, with police officers injured and buildings set on fire. The weekend of 3rd-4th of August saw the most severe rioting, and the emergence of the first organised counter-protestors. The following week saw the violence die down, with many instances of rumoured anti-immigration protests not materialising or being far more limited, leaving counter-protestors with a significant numerical advantage. 

YouGov polling from 5-6th of August suggested that 7% of the public supported the riots, but 34% supported the more peaceful protests. Another YouGov poll found that immigration was ranked as the number 1 issue facing the country, increasing 10 points since July. 

The government initially responded by establishing a ‘national violent disorder programme’ to better coordinate police response, and Keir Starmer further commissioned a “standing army” of police officers to address the violence. The Prime Minister warned that rioters would “regret taking part in this disorder” both in person and online.

Starmer also faced the growing accusation of two-tiered policing, with opponents suggesting the government came down much harder on anti-immigration protests compared to the disorder in Harehills in July, and instances seen on social media of masked “Muslim patrol” militants enacting violence. This perception was strengthened by a police chief suggesting that certain communities were permitted to police themselves.

In total, over 1000 people have been arrested for taking part in the violence, and around 500 have been charged, with many receiving prison sentences of up to 3 years. 

Politicians pressure Starmer to recall Parliament

With riots dominating UK news, and civil unrest at levels not seen for many years, Keir Starmer was urged to suspend recess and recall Parliament. Former home secretary Priti Patel, Labour MP Diane Abbott and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage were among those urging Starmer to cut short the parliamentary recess.

The situation was not without precedent, as Parliament was recalled for a single day in 2011, following rioting across the UK. Tory leadership candidate Priti Patel said that politicians need to get “some kind of grip” on the situation, and that Parliament urgently needed to discuss the issues causing the civil unrest. 

Keir Starmer rebuked these suggestions, declaring that he was focused on stopping the disorder and returning safety to Britain’s streets. Patel’s Tory leadership opponent James Cleverly agreed with the Prime Minister, arguing that the police had sufficient powers to deal with the violence and that MPs were already receiving a “clear flow” of information. Northern Ireland actually did recall its Assembly to discuss the disorder that occurred in Belfast, but Westminster maintained its usual summer recess: due to end on September 2nd. 

Rayner launches Labour’s house-building plans

Just before the summer recess, Deputy PM and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner announced an overhaul of the planning rules; part of Labour’s ambition to build 1.5 million new homes by 2029. Rayner also adjusted regional house-building target calculations, which means that some areas have seen huge increases, while urban centres like Birmingham, London and Coventry have actually seen a decrease in their targets.

England’s overall yearly house-building target will be increased from 305 to 370 thousand. To achieve this, the government will allow houses to be built on low-quality ‘green belt’ land, which was previously protected, and will now be reclassified as ‘grey-belt’. Rayner said her plans were “radical” but “urgent” if the government wants to solve Britain’s housing crisis. 

Labour’s Operation Early Dawn 

The government triggered an emergency plan code-named “Operation Early Dawn” in a bid to alleviate prison overcrowding. The plan means that defendants waiting for a court appearance, including many of those involved in anti-immigration riots, can be held in police cells for longer until prison space becomes available. It also means that court dates and sentences can be delayed at short notice. The plan only applies in parts of the country where prison overcrowding is most acute, particularly in Yorkshire, Lancashire and Merseyside. The emergency plan was also used by the previous Tory government in May.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood will also cut the percentage of a prison sentence that must be served before parole can be granted from 50 to 40%. The measure won’t apply to people convicted of certain crimes, such as sex offenders, cases of domestic abuse and those involved in this summer’s rioting. Should the plan go ahead, 5,500 people will be released in the next 2 months, which Prisons Minister Lord Timpson said was a “difficult but necessary” decision. 

The Tory leadership campaign

The 6 Tory MPs in the race to replace Rishi Sunak have been campaigning over the summer, making their case to fellow MPs, party members and the wider electorate. To keep up to date with the leadership contest, check out our weekly Tory leadership roundup here on Patreon.

James Cleverly, Priti Patel, Robert Jenrick, Kemi Badenoch, Mel Stride and Tom Tugendhat will face a closed-door hustings with MPs on Tuesday, before the first round of voting on Wednesday 4th September. MPs will vote for their preferred candidate in 2 rounds, with the bottom 2 candidates from each vote eliminated. The remaining 4 will then make their case to the Tory party conference in late September, with 2 more eliminated by another vote of MPs. Tory members will then choose between the remaining 2 candidates, with the winner announced on the 2nd of November. 

The biggest stories of the summer were:

• All 6 candidates said that Reform UK leader Nigel Farage would not be allowed to join the Tories under their leadership, with James Cleverly accusing Farage of aiming to “destroy the Conservative party”
• Deputy Tory Chairman Matthew Vickers resigned from his position to back Robert Jenrick, as CCHQ has to be neutral during the leadership election
• Robert Jenrick said he would appoint former PM Boris Johnson to his cabinet if he became leader

The latest YouGov poll from August 23rd put Kemi Badenoch in pole position, with 24% of Tory members surveyed backing her to win the leadership, with Tugendhat on 16%, Cleverly on 14% and Jenrick on 12%. For more details on the Tory leadership campaign, check out our weekly roundup on Patreon. 

Starmer warns that the UK “is going to get worse” before it gets better 

On the 27th of August, Keir Starmer delivered a speech in the garden of Downing Street, warning voters that things will “get worse before they get better”. Starmer painted a dire picture of the inheritance Labour received from the Tories, accusing them of “recklessness” in their fiscal management, referencing a £22bn black hole in public finances. The Autumn Budget will be the first delivered by new Chancellor Rachel Reeves, and Starmer warned that it would be “painful” and contain “big asks” of the country.

In response, former PM and Tory leader Rishi Sunak said the speech was “the clearest indication of what Labour has been planning to do all along – raise your taxes”. Robert Jenrick, a Tory leadership contender, also attacked Starmer’s speech, accusing him of “attempting to rewrite history” and preparing “huge tax rises”. Starmer did reaffirm his manifesto commitment not to increase VAT, national insurance or income tax, but both he and Rachel Reeves have repeatedly failed to rule out increases to capital gains tax and inheritance tax. 

Starmer also reflected on the rioting across the UK this summer, and claimed that those protesting knew that “the system was broken” and believed they could get away with criminal activity. Finishing on a more positive tone, Starmer referenced the lockdown parties that happened under Boris Johnson’s premiership, declaring that “this garden and this building are now back in your service”. 

We have also seen that…

• Eluned Morgan was confirmed as Welsh First Minister
• Prime Minister Keir Starmer had to cancel his summer holiday due to the riots
• Tesla, SpaceX and X CEO Elon Musk attacked Keir Starmer, calling him “Two-Tier Keir” and comparing British policing to the Soviet Union
• Former PM Liz Truss had her event crashed by protest group Led By Donkeys, with an image of a lettuce saying “I crashed the economy” appearing behind her
• The Bank of England cut interest rates from 5.25% to 5%, which had remained unchanged since August 2023
• Labour Councillor Ricky Jones was suspended from the party and arrested after calling for a crowd to “cut all the throats” of anti-immigration protesters
• Former Labour leader, and now independent MP, Jeremy Corbyn started talks with fellow independents to form a new group which would equal the 5 MPs of Reform UK
• Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was interviewed by her own husband, former Labour Minister Ed Balls, on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, sparking accusations of media bias
• Keir Starmer passed Liz Truss’ 50 day tenure as Prime Minister, meaning he is now safe from the accolade of shortest serving PM in modern British history