Expert on racial relations joins calls for the prime minister to deliver a ‘State of the Nation’ address tackling the cause of riots.
According to one of the most prominent experts on race riots, the previous government’s decision to leave out community cohesion was an act of “political vandalism.”
Prof Ted Cantle, the author of a seminal integration report after the 2001 riots, stated that the Conservative government left a number of long-term measures to wither or abandon.
A number of race experts, including Cantle, backed a joint call to the leading think tank British Future, Belong and Together Coalition urging the prime minister, Keir Starmer, to use this month’s Labour party conference for a “state of the nation” address tackling the root cause of this summer’s riots and establishing how the government will rebuild community cohesion.
The organisation’s report after the riots shared with the media cautions that moving on from the violent disorder could “risk recurring episodes of the kind of disturbances we have seen, and increased polarisation and social conflict in future.”
In an interview, Cantle stated, “With each of these riots or disturbances, we tend to deal with the immediate aftermath, rather than digging into some of the underlying causes and trying to create a much more robust model of cohesion.
“We know what the issues are but we’ve just got to put in a long plan to deal with them. The irony is that the cost of developing cohesion is far less than the cost of the disturbances.”
He added, “There are some simple things we can do, such as reinstating the duty to promote community cohesion in schools,” and he described the Conservative government’s decision to remove this from the Ofsted regime as “political vandalism.”
“It’s not just about schools. Families are involved in schools. Schools are often the centre of community activity, with spinoff associations, clubs, societies and sporting activity.”
The report suggests working with mosques and community organisations to implement restorative justice for individuals found guilty during the riots.
The report’s authors encouraged rugby league and local football clubs to increase social contacts across divides and develop shared social identities. They also added that the UK hosting the Euro 2028 tournament could form the centrepiece for this work.
The Rt Rev Dr Toby Howarth, the bishop of Bradford, former communities minister John Denham, and former co-chair of the cross-government community working group on anti-Muslim hatred also backed the calls made in the report.
Cantle urged the Prime Minister to use his voice to “develop a narrative about the way we as a society should live together. That’s going to be a little bit general, non-specific, but it can be very powerful.”
He went on to say that ” this narrative has to be supported by action about the way in which we want communities to organise, to actually bridge across divides, to build that level of trust and understanding to make sure that where there are concerns and grievances, they are dealt with.”
Sunder Katwala, a director of British Future and a co-author of the report, said: “There’s been a vacuum on communities’ policy for too long and this summer we saw what that can lead to. Starmer’s initial response to the riots was strong, but he shouldn’t leave the job half-done. Now he needs to make clear what we will do together to stop them happening again.”
Another report co-author, Brendan Cox from the Together Coalition, stated that ” after every riot, there are a few days of panic followed by many months of reviews and then a return to business as usual. That can’t happen this time.”
Jamie Scudamore, Belong’s chief executive and a co-author of the paper, said: “We need a national strategy that empowers local leaders with the tools and resources for action, with local authorities playing a vital leadership role.”
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s spokesperson revealed a new £15m community recovery fund declared by the deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, on Wednesday to empower communities to tackle deeper roots of unrest.
The fund can be used to repair damaged buildings and high streets or for programs to strengthen community cohesion.
