- Yvette Cooper pledges to restore trust in policing after riots, citing a need to reestablish respect for law and order
- Cooper criticizes the “brazen abuse” directed at police and the rise of crime without consequences
- Labour plans to increase community policing and rebuild police-community partnerships
Yvette Cooper says too many people believe “crime has no consequences” as she pledges to rebuild trust in policing and the criminal system.
The home secretary has stated that respect for the police must be restored following the “brazen abuse and contempt” demonstrated by rioters.
Yvette Cooper stated that there is “a lot of rebuilding to be done” after a fortnight of riots following the Southport stabbings on July 29.
Respect for the police, respect for the law, and respect for each other is where we must start,” she wrote in The Daily Telegraph.
She stated that too many people believe “crime has no consequences” and that this “has to change” as she promised to rebuild trust in policing and the criminal justice system.
Hundreds of people participating in the riots have been arrested, and many have already been jailed after the government pushed for a speedy trial.
The unrest was sparked by false online accusations that the Southport stabbing suspect was an illegal immigrant. Axel Rudakubana, 17, was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents and has been accused of three murders and ten attempted murders.
Ms Cooper stated that the country should have been discussing the deaths of three young girls as well as the injuries sustained.
Instead, she stated that police officers must defend themselves against bricks, bottles, pyrotechnics, and other missiles as they attempt to safeguard mosques, hotels, and high streets from criminal violence and racial attacks.
According to the home secretary, the attacks on communities and police have been “a disgraceful assault on the rule of law itself.”
Those who claim that the violence is about protest and grievance are creating excuses for criminals and thugs, she cautioned.
She stated that she is unwilling to “tolerate the brazen abuse and contempt” directed at police by a minority group.
She also stated that “disrespect for law and order has been allowed to grow in recent years.”
She said, “We must take action to restore respect for the police and respect for the law.”
Ms. Cooper stated that the government intended to deploy thousands more neighborhood police officers and police community support officers (PCSOs) “back onto our streets.
In a dig at the former Conservative government, she stated that Labour wished to reverse “the collapse in community policing” during the previous 14 years and re-establish partnerships between local communities and their police services.
Ms. Cooper promised to collaborate with the police “rather than just blaming them from afar, to tackle problems and raise standards.”
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Without naming anyone, she described “shameful behaviour” by “some senior politicians and pundits who sought to undermine the legitimacy and authority of the police.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and X founder Elon Musk are two well-known figures who have accused the UK of “two-tier policing.
The idea that specific protests are treated better than others is known as two-tier policing, which the government and police commanders categorically deny.
Sir Keir Starmer has canceled his summer vacation plans as the administration continues dealing with the aftermath dealing with the riot’s aftermath of the riots.
He ordered police to be highly alert over the weekend, but no widespread unrest occurred.
