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Echoes of 1981 - Theresa May at the Reading The Riots conference

Wanting to help develop public understanding of the August disorder motivated me to work on the Reading The Riots project. The idea that we may be able to affect future policy was an exciting one. The conference on December the 14^th was the pinnacle where we revealed our findings and they were addressed by prominent figures from the police and politics. The response of Theresa May, the Home Secretary was certain to generate the most interest. Would she accept that our findings pointed to underlying issues that need to be addressed? Would she continue to tow the simplistic Tory party line and insist that the riots were a consequence of wanton criminality?

Theresa May didn’t disappoint. She brilliantly fulfilled the role of narrow-minded Tory villain. In keeping with the Prime Minister’s quick-fire verdict that an enquiry in to the disorder was unnecessary, her brief address patronisingly acknowledged the hard work we had all undertaken and then roundly dismissed it. Her tone was that of an aging schoolmistress, stubbornly unmoved by a piece of work that challenged her dated appreciation of what is worthy. The Home Secretary reasoned that by speaking to those who were directly involved in the riots, we had given criminals a chance to rationalise their behaviour. This simplistic conclusion typifies the Tory stance and indicates an unwillingness to accept possible causes that implicate society on a wider scale.

And then she was gone. A woman with a busy schedule, she was unable to take any of our questions, symbolic of the idea that nobody in government actually wants to listen.

The recent publication of cabinet papers from 1981 revealed Margaret Thatcher’s response to the Liverpool riots and presents us with a worrying comparison. When confronted with a wealth of evidence that suggested police racism was a key cause, Thatcher was robustly dismissive, condemning those involved as criminals and better equipping police forces to deal with similar situations.

It appears that over thirty years little has changed in regards to the Tory line on public disorder. Theresa May’s address at the Reading The Riots conference echoed Margaret Thatcher’s response in 1981, how terrifyingly consistent.