Politicians must end ‘culture of denial’ about violent criminals, says Tugendhat

‘Too often, we have avoided being brutally honest’ about those who commit atrocities, declares shadow security minister

Politicians must be “brutally honest” about the motives of violent criminals, Tom Tugendhat will say on Tuesday.
The former security minister and Tory leadership candidate will call for an end to the “culture of denial” around the identities and motives of those who commit atrocities.
He will add that politicians and the authorities must no longer “obfuscate about the identities and motives of the perpetrators” of extreme violence.
There must instead be a debate about the root causes of the unrest as he warned against the “false comfort of denial and complacency”.
“Too often, over the last two decades or more, we have avoided being brutally honest, preferring instead the warmth and false comfort of denial and complacency,” he will say.
“We need to end the culture of denial – the tendency to move hurriedly on from acts of extreme violence, to obfuscate about the identities and motives of the perpetrators.”
He will also insist that Britain must tackle the rise of Islamist extremism as well as the far-Right in the wake of the riots.
The riots were fuelled by false rumours on social media which wrongly identified the attacker as a Muslim refugee who arrived on a small boat.
Mr Tugendhat, who is now the shadow security minister, will say those involved in the violence needed to be “met with uncompromising force”.
He will also call for a debate on the root causes of people’s anger, saying Britain often tries to move on too quickly from shocking crimes.
The Tory leadership hopeful will criticise Sir Keir Starmer’s response to the riots and urge him to clamp down on all forms of sectarianism.
Recent unrest in Birmingham saw a crowd of predominantly young Muslim men attack a pub after they gathered to protect a mosque from the far-Right.
West Midlands Police was criticised over its response to the disorder despite the fact that some of the participants appeared to be armed.
Supt Emlyn Richards said officers met with “community leaders, business leaders, prior to that event to understand the style of policing we needed to deliver”.
His remarks fuelled claims, made by some politicians but denied by the force, that there has been “two-tier policing” of the different types of unrest.
Mr Tugendhat, a former soldier, will warn that such incidents risked eroding public confidence in the police at a time when it is needed most.
“No police officer should ever tolerate the presence of a militia, no matter what the provocation or the cause they claim,” he will say.
“The intrusion of politics – the politics of protest, the politics of self-appointed ‘community leaders’ – into policing must end.”
He will add: “Once lost, public order can be difficult to regain, which is why the police response to disorder must always be swift and determined.
“For officers on the streets, policing a violent crowd is a dangerous job. We sometimes hear of the need to go softly, softly, and to make arrests later.
“But visible lawlessness encourages others to join in and commit crime. Once people cross the line, they need to be met with uncompromising force.”
Mr Tugendhat will also criticise policies which have highlighted differences between communities and call for more of a focus on common traits.
He is expected to pinpoint equality and diversity initiatives in the public sector, which he will argue have taught people to think in identitarian terms.
The shadow minister will accuse Sir Keir of showing a lack of leadership on law and order and highlight the importance of tough prison sentences.
He will criticise the Prime Minister’s decision to release some criminals 40 per cent of the way through their sentences to free up more jail space.
His remarks will come amid a growing expectation that Labour will need to set out a response to the issues that fuelled the riots in the coming weeks.
Sir Keir is said to be reluctant to open such a debate at the moment for fear of being seen to legitimise the grievances of those involved in the unrest.
The Prime Minister scrapped the Rwanda plan on his first day but has set out little detail on how he plans to reduce migration beyond tackling smuggling gangs.
He will also face questions over how he plans to address social inequality and deprivation, with seven of the 10 poorest areas in England seeing unrest.