The Conservative leadership candidate Priti Patel has criticised Nigel Farage’s response to the far-right riots, saying it was wrong to compare the violence to Black Lives Matter protests.
The former home secretary has also written to the prime minister and home secretary, urging them to recall parliament, drawing parallels with the 2011 riots when MPs returned for a government statement on civil disorder and to condemn the violence.
Farage condemned the violence against police officers in a statement posted on X on Monday morning but the Reform UK leader said “deeper long-term problems remain”. He also called for the recall of parliament and said the government should consider deploying the army.
He added: “Ever since the soft policing of the Black Lives Matter protests, the impression of two-tier policing has become widespread. The prime minister’s faltering attempts to address the current crisis have only added to that sense of injustice.”
Patel said Farage’s comments were deeply misleading and “simply not relevant right now”. She told Times Radio: “There’s a clear difference between effectively blocking streets or roads being closed to burning down libraries, hotels, food banks and attacking places of worship. What we have seen is thuggery, violence, racism.
It’s bizarre to see Patel acting like the voice of reason when her anti-immigrant rhetoric when in power is one of the foundations for all this.
She is trying to appeal to the centre of her party
Remember there’s a leadership election on
Yep and as Member MPs are responsible for choosing the Tory leadership candidates. With so few remaining. I’m betting she needs to rethink the % of the party she needs to appeal to. Many of the more right-wing MP either quit prior to July 4th. Or lost.
Is there? Has Rishi quit?
Like a snowflake on a summers morning straight after the election
Really? I can’t find any news articles about him actually resigning as leader of the conservative party. So as far as I know he’s still in the position.
Parliament are on recess at the moment so it’s sort of difficult to check at the moment.
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-pm-sunak-resign-prime-minister-conservative-leader-2024-07-05/
First thing that came up when I put “Rishi Sunak Resigns” in Google
Do you live in the UK?
He’s still the leader of the conservative party. That’s not him resigning as leader of the conservatory party that’s him resigning as a prime minister which is actually not his choice. He’s still hanging around leading the opposition.
Yes i do.
When a leader of a party resigns they don’t just bugger off its an orderly transition according to party rules.
He will be there until they elect a new leader hence the start of this thread.
Yeah but what I’m saying is that there is currently no leadership election. One hasn’t been announced and since he hasn’t resigned (he promised to and then hasn’t, yet another lie) he’s still the leader of the opposition.
Heartbreaking: the worst person you know etc etc