Some 60% of voters who backed Labour at the general election say the Prime Minister is handling the riots well, new polling shows.
The YouGov poll came as far-right activists were expected to gather in dozens of places across the UK on Wednesday, with police forces making thousands of extra officers available for “rapid deployment” if further riots break out.
There are fears immigration centres and law firms which support migrants could be targeted today, and mosques have been promised greater protection.
A YouGov poll this week found 31 per cent of voters said Keir Starmer was handling the “unrest at recent protests in England” either very or fairly well.
But this rose to 60 per cent among Labour voters in the recent election, with 47 per cent saying he was handling it fairly well and 13 per cent very well. Some 24 per cent said he was handling it badly, while 16 per cent said they did not know.
READ MORE: Diane Abbott calls for recall of parliament amid UK riots
Britons tend to think that Keir Starmer is handling the riots badly
Well: 31%
Badly: 49%https://t.co/5UAbLteddN pic.twitter.com/7p8pymQBmQ— YouGov (@YouGov) August 6, 2024
Among voters overall in the poll of 2,114 adults across the UK, 49 per cent said Starmer was handling the disorder badly, while 20 per cent said they did not know.
Starmer outpolled politicians as a whole though, with only 17% of UK voters saying they had handled the crisis well.
Luke Tryl, UK director of another research group, More in Common, said it was a “a pretty bad sign for Starmer given you might expect a ‘back the Government’ moment in times like this and suggests a much more visibly muscular response will be needed”.
He added: “What is clear from the rest of the polling is people have no sympathy with the rioters and want a robust response to tackle them and so indicates the disapproval driven by Govt not being seen to be tough enough to stop them rather than other way round.”
Most Labour voters also said police should be able to use water cannons, tear gas, tasers, horses, curfews or the army in the course of dealing with rioters, though supporters were almost evenly split over the use of plastic bullets, and said the use of firearms should be ruled out.
Most Labour supporters also said those who carried some responsiblity for the the unrest included far -right groups, the last government, news and social media, Nigel Farage, Tommy Robinson, and immigration policy in recent years.
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Some 62% of Labour voters highlighted immigration policy, only slightly below the 67% of voters overall highlighting it – but below the 95% figure for Reform UK voters.
Some 29% of Labour voters said those protesting peacefully represented the views of most Britons, but 51% said they did not. Some 87% said those causing unrest did not represent most people.
Local government minister Jim McMahom told Times Radio recent events are “ridiculous”, and “whatever the concern” people may have about immigration, violence is “not a legitimate response”:
“People who are engaging in violent protests who are damaging property, who are intimidating people who are making people fearful about going out in their own communities do not speak for the majority. The majority of us want to get on together in peace and to live a good life.”
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