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'Keir has to have family time': Labour MP defends Starmer for holiday plan as riots rage across UK
4 August 2024, 09:19 | Updated: 4 August 2024, 10:26
Labour MP defends PM's decision to continue with holiday despite riots
A Blackpool MP has defended Keir Starmer for plans to go on holiday despite the riots flaring across the UK in recent days.
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Chris Webb, the Labour MP for Blackpool South, told LBC's Matthew Wright that the Prime Minister "has to have family time".
Riots raged across the UK on Saturday, including in Blackpool, Liverpool and Manchester, with around 90 people arrested and several police officers injured.
Mr Webb, who said that some of his friends had to be evacuated from Blackpool town centre because they were being racially abused and attacked, told Matthew that Starmer would be "continuing to work and monitor the situation" from holiday.
He said: "The government will continue and we've got an excellent Deputy Prime Minister.
"Keir has to have family time, there's no doubt about it. Every Prime Minister has to have that family time and that break but from what I know of Keir - and I've met him many times, and sitting here in Blackpool several times - he will be continuing to work and monitor the situation wherever he is on holiday."
Some Conservatives have also called for more action on the riots from the government, who have promised to launch a nationwide violent disorder policing unit. Efforts are also said to be underway to get courts open 24-hours to process criminal rioters.
But Tory leadership hopefuls Priti Patel and Tom Tugendhat have urged ministers to take further action.
Mr Tugendhat said: "Why hasn’t a COBR been called? Still no plan from Government on ending the violence on our streets. Extremism and lawlessness cannot be tolerated. This has to stop. What is taking Labour so long?"
On Saturday, former Home Secretary Ms Patel called for Parliament to be recalled in an effort to tackle the disorder.
There was a minor row during the General Election campaign about Starmer saying that he would try to spend Friday evenings with his family, after 6pm, with the Labour leader calling Conservative criticisms "desperate".
Blackpool was one of several towns and cities that were hit with riots on Saturday, in the latest series of mass gatherings to descend into violent disorder this week in the aftermath of the Southport murders and false rumours spread online.
Police said they had arrested over 20 people in Blackpool, as rioters faced off with punk rock fans in the town for a festival.
Mr Webb said that some of the rioters in the Lancashire seaside town looted and vandalised shops, while some also made Nazi salutes.
Mr Webb said of his town: "What we're seeing now is violence. We're seeing people with Nazi salutes, we're seeing people racially abused people.
"I had friends last night that had to be evacuated out the town centre, because they were racially abused and attacked.
"This is happening - we've got to address it and we need to have calm and we need to come together as a parliament to tackle this."
The riots were originally sparked by the killings of three young girls in Southport.
False rumours spread online that the suspect was a Muslim asylum seeker.In reality the suspect charged with the murders is a 17-year-old born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents.
Mr Webb called for social media to do more to help authorities crack down on the rioters because "it's happening on their watch".
He added: "What we're seeing is these folks are using social media to attract others from across the country, to certain places.
"So we saw many in Blackpool jump on trains after a Zoom meeting the night before using social media, Snapchat, to organise, and they were using it to organise on the day to move to areas where the police weren't."
He added: "The social media companies need to step up and stop this from happening, because not only is it causing issues with riots like this, it's causing issues in my town for knife crime for drug dealing.
"And it's got to stop and it's on their watch."
Mr Webb also called for Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to set an example by calling for peaceful protest, rather than riots.
He said of the Clacton MP that he should "lead from the front, and to try and calm these [protests] down, right now.
"He has a following. He knows he does... I urge him to promote calm, peaceful protest. And that could go a long way in saying to these individuals - 'right, calm down, stop attacking our streets'."
