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Michael Gove has branded concerns made by Angela Rayner about a repeat of last year’s summer of violence as “a big mistake”, claiming it could “tacitly encourage” riots.
The former Tory cabinet minister, who was Ms Rayner’s predecessor as the secretary of state responsible for communities, added that history showed warning violence could break out made it inevitable.
His comments follow a no holds barred briefing the deputy prime minister gave to cabinet colleagues on Tuesday, where she linked economic woes and immigration to community tensions and said the government needed to acknowledge the public’s “real concerns” about societal changes, as well as falling living standards.
She was speaking following violent scenes in Epping, Essex where protesters have clashed near the Bell Hotel which is believed to contain asylum seekers.
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Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner (PA) ( PA Wire )
Noting that 17 of the 18 areas with riots last year sparked by the Southport murders were among the poorest in the UK, she told colleagues that “while Britain was a successful multi-ethnic, multi-faith country, the government had to show it had a plan to address people’s concerns and provide opportunities for everyone to flourish”.
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Mr Gove, who is now editor of The Spectator, comes with significant ministerial experience in dealing with community tensions and riots.
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As a former justice secretary he was also responsible for the law courts and in 2011 during the riots which broke out in London he was a key member of David Cameron’s cabinet as education secretary.
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Michael Gove (Jordan Pettitt/PA) ( PA Archive )
Speaking on ITV This Morning, he said: “I think this is a mistake on Labour, to brief this out, I think it is a big mistake, it reminds me of what happened in the 1970s when [former US president] Jimmy Carter when America was going through difficult times said ‘this country is in the grip of a malaise’.
“You do not, if you are the government, accentuate the negative in this way and you certainly don’t suggest to people that violence might be about to break out in this way.”
Asked about comments made by Reform leader Nigel Farage appearing to sympathise with protesters in Epping, he said: “I think it is understandable why Nigel Farage says it but I don’t believe that anyone should be doing anything to anticipate or to seek to in any way say this is inevitable.
“Because that either tacitly encourages or makes the government seem at the mercy of events.
“Of course you deal with migration, of course the government can and should do more to show that people are being deported and asylum seekers are being processed effectively.
“But the key rule in politics is show, don't tell.
“You give hope, you do not double down on despair.”
On Wednesday the Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said she did not expect another summer of riots, but added that the government needs to be "very, very vigilant".
But she blamed Labour for the strains on social cohesion highlighted by Ms Rayner.
The Conservative leader said: "I'm surprised it's taken her this long to actually understand what is going on."
On a visit to north-west London she said the local Hillingdon Council had a ￡17 million deficit because it has had asylum seekers "dumped on their doorstep".
"Yvette Cooper is waving things through. Rachel Reeves is not providing the money. I'm not surprised. Angela Rayner is saying the social fabric is fraying, but she needs to do something about it," Ms Badenoch said.