Politics latest: Tory leadership hopeful condemns 'irresponsible' Farage as Reform leader denies falling for conspiracies (2024)

Jim McMahon, the housing minister, is speaking to Sky News this morning.

He is asked about whether rioters should be prosecuted as terrorists.

The minister says that, if the Crown Prosecution Service believes the threshold is met on the basis of evidence, it is "right" to take that step.

Asked what the threshold is for ministers or the prime minister to call people terrorists, Mr McMahon says it's not a judgement to be made by an individual.

"There'll be a technical assessment about whether that test has been met," he says.

"And that'll be based on the evidence, and the intelligence services will make that assessment and give advice to the prime minister and government ministers on that basis."

After a poll yesterday showed 67% of people feel immigration has contributed to the riots, Mr McMahon is asked if the government thinks it is a central factor to the unrest.

The minister says it's important to discuss and confront difficult issues - and to do so through the lens of those with a lived experience.

But he says there is a difference between having legitimate concerns and seeking to exploit division.

The government's response to the unrest in the UK has included telling people they will be prosecuted for both in person actions - and also what they say online.

For example, Jordan Parlour, 28, of Leeds, was yesterday charged with using threatening words or behaviour intending to stir up racial hatred in relation to posts on Facebook between 1 August and 5 August.

Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, said last night: "Criminals should expect to pay the price for violent thuggery and disorder on our streets.

"Keyboard warriors also cannot hide, as criminal organisation and incitement online will be liable for prosecution and strong penalties too."

This stance - that people should face criminal repercussions for the actions online - has drawn the ire of the likes of Elon Musk, the owner of X.

The Conservative leadership contest is still rumbling on, with the six candidates vying for their colleague's nominations.

Mel Stride, who was the work and pensions secretary in the last government, has stated overnight that he would not do a deal with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage if he takes control of the Tories.

He also criticised the Clacton MP for his response to recent unrest.

Mr Stride said: "Mr Farage's comments against a backdrop of the worst public order offences the UK has witnessed for many years will inevitably have been seen as hugely unhelpful by right thinking people in what is a volatile situation.

"In making these statements he has linked the violence to community division resulting from immigration. He is irresponsible and wrong to fuel the fires of rumour and in doing so, can only further damage social cohesion.

"As leader I will reunite and rebuild trust in the Conservative Party amongst those who voted Reform at the general election. Their concerns need to be fully respected and properly addressed. Under my leadership we will do just that.

"Some have suggested that a deal should be done with Mr Farage as part of that process. That will not happen under my leadership and there will be no place for him or Reform at the Conservative table."

By Niamh Lynch, news reporter

Sir Keir Starmer has said he expects the sentencing of many far-right rioters convicted after widespread unrest in the last few days to take place by the end of the week - as police prepare for 30 more gatherings due to take place on Wednesday evening.

Although officers in Liverpool and Durham issued dispersal orders to head off potential unrest, Tuesday night was free of the violent scenes that have played out across the UK since the initial disturbances in Southport a week earlier.

But officers are monitoring threats of further rioting against immigration law specialists, some of which had either closed or accepted offers of additional police protection.

A list of solicitors' firms and advice agencies has been shared in chat groups as possible targets for gatherings, with the message inviting people to "mask up" if they attend.

The Law Society of England and Wales described such gatherings as a "direct assault on our legal profession", while Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said threats against solicitors were "unacceptable" and those making them would "join the hundreds of others who have already been arrested by police within the last week".

Approximately 6,000 specialist officers will be at the ready by the end of the week for the so-called "standing army" of police announced by Sir Keir on Monday. These officers have been taken away from their regular duties to deal with ongoing disorder.

Read more here:

Welcome back to the Politics Hub.

Today is likely to be dominated by the fact that police are bracing for 30 more far-right demonstrations across the UK this evening.

You can follow live updates on the unrest here.

Meanwhile, we'll keep you up to date here on the political situation.

Speaking to Sky News this morning:

• 7.15am: Levelling up minister Jim McMahon;
• 8.15am: Shadow crime minister Matt Vickers;
• 9.30am: Tory leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick.

We're bringing the Politics Hub to a close for the evening.

There's still no word from Downing Street on the details of tonight's emergency COBRA meeting, but once word reaches us we'll bring it to you via our dedicated live blog on the riots.

You can find that below:

The Politics Hub will be back up and running from around 6am tomorrow.

Have a good evening.

By Tom Clarke, science and technology editor

"We feel very proud, very excited to have you," said Rishi Sunak as he introduced Elon Musk in London last November.

Now his successor, Keir Starmer, must wish Musk would just go away.

While the government knows the very unhelpful views of a private individual would best be ignored, when that individual has 193 million followers on a social media platform they own, that isn't going to work.

Musk's promotion of far right cause

Musk is well known for controversial posts on X, the platform he owns, but this is something different.

He appears to be on a mission, criticising the causes and policing of the ongoing riots, and getting personal, too.

He's used the hashtag #2tierkeir in reference to right-wing criticism of alleged two-tier policing, and interacted with far-right activists like Tommy Robinson - handing the former EDL leader a level of profile he could only have dreamed of at a pivotal moment.

And it's not just the UK in his sights…

But Musk isn't just trolling the UK government - having come out in support for Donald Trump's re-election bid, he's also ramped up his opinions about US politics and criticism of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Are we simply seeing a rightward slide in Musk's politics?

There's more to it than that. Legislation like the UK's Online Harms Act, the EU's equivalent, and efforts to pass the same in the US, could threaten his social media business.

The balance of power is shifting

That meeting between Sunak and Musk confirmed something that should trouble all democracies: the balance of global power has shifted.

Musk – or his business interests in AI and building gigafactories for electric car batteries – was seen as a solution to some of the UK's woes.

He has wealth rivalling that of smaller nation states, giving him privilege and power akin to world leaders.

But he's not bound by the same rules - and he knows it.

No longer seen as a solution to our needs, he's now a massive problem.

Nigel Farage, who has been accused of contributing to the ongoing riots through his initial response to the Southport attack which sparked them, has been defending himself this evening.

The day after the stabbings last Monday, he posted a video on social media suggesting police might be hiding things from the public.

That was amid rampant, false, online speculation the suspect was a Muslim migrant who had arrived on a small boat.

We later found out he was Cardiff-born teenager Axel Rudakubana.

Farage told LBC radio earlier: "I asked a very simple question: was this person known [to the security services] or not?"

The Clacton MP denied having fallen for false claims about the suspect, saying he "didn't believe any of it".

Farage accuses PM of 'misreading' crisis

In another video later posted on X, Mr Farage said it had been an "appalling" few days and described rioters as "thugs".

But he also accused the prime minister of having "misread" the crisis by calling out the actions of the far right - and repeated his accusations of two-tier policing that have been denied by top cops and the PM himself.

The Reform leader referred to the actions of Muslim counter-protesters who surrounded a Sky News crew in Birmingham yesterday, including a masked man wielding a knife who stabbed the tyre of their van.

Watch Sky News van being attacked:

He also criticised the policing of previous Black Lives Matter protests, singling out the Whitehall statue of Winston Churchill "being defaced" and the Cenotaph "being abused".

It's worth noting the Churchill statue was pelted by flares during a far right rally in the capital last Wednesday - and some protesters were also seen doing Nazi salutes at the Cenotaph.

This evening's emergency COBRA meeting about the riots has ended.

It was the second such gathering in as many days, again chaired by the prime minister as the government looks to get a grip on the crisis.

Ministers, police chiefs and other personnel involved have started departing and we should be getting an update on what was discussed a little later this evening.

The prime minister has warned anyone whipping up violence online will face the full force of the law.

But how does what is said online translate to violence in the streets?

Sky News'sdata and forensics correspondentTom Cheshire has been looking at the evidence.