Address concerns or face more riots, Rayner tells PM

Angela Rayner has warned Sir Keir Starmer that the UK faces a repeat of last year’s summer riots unless “the government shows it can address people’s concerns”.

- DAVID MADDOX HOLLY EVANS

In a dramatic intervention in the final cabinet meeting before the summer recess, the deputy prime minister said economic insecurity, immigration, the increasing time people spend online, and declining trust in institutions were having a “profound impact on society”.

She warned ministers that it was “incumbent on the government to acknowledge the real concerns people have and to deliver improvements to people’s lives in their communities” amid growing concerns that there could be a repeat of the unrest that scarred communities in the wake of the Southport murders.

Her words come days after violent protests broke out outside an asylum hotel in Epping, Essex, which has pushed the community to “boiling point”, according to local Tory MP Dr Neil Hudson.

Calling on the government to deliver improvements to people’s lives, Ms Rayner noted that 17 of the 18 places that saw the worst of last summer’s disorder ranked among the country’s most deprived areas.