Few Britons support the disorder, with the vast majority saying it is unjustified and that the views of the rioters are not representative of the wider population
Following misinformation on social media accusing the perpetrator of last week’s mass stabbing in Southport of having been a Muslim asylum seeker, protests have taken place in towns across the country over the last week. While for some they are a protest against the stabbings, for others they have also been a chance to speak out against mass immigration and concerns about Islam, and many of the demonstrations have descended into violence, with police having made 378 arrests in the disorder so far.
Now a new YouGov survey examines the public’s attitudes to the protests, the riots, and those taking part in them. It also looks at how well people think the police and politicians have responded, their confidence in the police to prevent further violence, and their expectations for the aftermath.
There is little support for the unrest, and only a third support the wider peaceful protests
Regardless of what the rioters believe they are representing, their actions are not supported by the British public, with 85% of Britons opposing the unrest at recent protests and just 7% saying they support the violence. Even the broader protests only hold the support of one in three Britons (34%), with more than half (54%) opposed.
Opposition to the riots is near-universal across every part of the public, with Reform UK voters being the only group showing any substantive levels of support, at 21%. Even this is a clear minority, with three-quarters of Reform voters (76%) opposed to the riots. Support among other voters is far lower – only 9% of Conservatives, 3% of Labour voters and 1% of Lib Dems favour the outbreak in violent disorder.
Reform UK voters are the only voting group to support the wider protests the unrest is stemming from, with eight in ten (81%) saying they support them to some degree. Fewer than one in five Labour or Lib Dem voters (18-19%) support the protests, while Conservatives are split on the matter (43% support, 48% oppose).
It is not the case that the public consider the actions of rioters to be justified, even if they don’t support the methods themselves. Just 12% of Britons think that the recent disorder is justified, compared to 82% who think it is unjustified.
Again, Reform UK voters are more likely than others to think the unrest is justified, at 33%, although only 7% consider it “completely justified” - and 64% take the opposing view.
Sympathies with the views of those taking part in the protests are somewhat broader – six in ten Britons (58%) say they have a great deal or fair amount of sympathy for the views of those peacefully taking part in demonstrations that were ostensibly triggered by the Southport murders. This includes majorities of Labour and Lib Dem voters (53-56%), as well as two-thirds of Conservatives (64%), with Reform voters are most sympathetic at 83%.
But sympathies for the views of the protestors does not translate into sympathies for the views of the rioters, whose beliefs only 8% of Britons have much regard for, including just one in nine (11%) of those who have sympathies with the views of the wider protestors. While a quarter of Reform voters (25%) hold some sympathy with the views of the rioters, this is again balanced against three-quarters (73%) who are unsympathetic.
Rioters do not represent most people, say the general public
But regardless of how those causing the unrest are labelled, one thing the public are clear on is that they are not representative of Britain as a whole. Only one in eight Britons (12%) feel the rioters are representative of the views of most Britons, with three-quarters (76%) saying they do not represent the majority of the public.
Again there is an element of a partisan divide, but even among the more generally sympathetic Reform voters, only three in ten (29%) feel the rioters are representative of wider Britain, compared to six in ten (62%) feeling they aren’t. The only people who feel the rioters are some kind of ‘silent majority’ are those who support the unrest, six in ten of whom (62%) are under the impression that their views are widely shared.
When it comes to those taking part in the recent protests peacefully, Britons are split – 42% think they represent the views of most Britons, while 38% disagree.
How do Britons describe those taking part in the recent riots?
There has been some disagreement on how those taking part in the recent unrest should be described, with some objecting to Keir Starmer’s view that those perpetuating the violence are “far-right thugs”.
For the British public, though, ‘thugs’ is the most apt description of those causing the unrest, with two-thirds (67%) feeling it is appropriate based on their actions. A similar 65% of Britons would describe them as ‘rioters’, with six in ten (58%) believing the rioters are ‘racist’ and a small majority (52%) agreeing with the prime minister’s label of ‘far-right’.
There is greater scepticism about describing them as ‘terrorists’, with only a quarter of Britons (23%) feeling this is appropriate. But only one in five (21%) would agree with the rioters’ self-description as mere ‘protestors’ or ‘activists’, while just one in six (16%) would class them as ‘people with legitimate concerns’ and even fewer (9%) would use the term ‘patriotic’.
There is a significant difference in how the rioters are seen between Reform UK voters and those who backed other parties last month.
For Reform UK voters, the most popular description is ‘people with legitimate concerns’, which half (49%) view as an appropriate label. Only 20% of Tory voters agree with this label, falling to 5-6% among Labour and the Lib Dems.
‘Rioters’ is viewed as the right term for a similar 47% of Reform voters, but what is most notable is that Reform supporters are more likely to feel the rioters are ‘patriotic’ (27%) than 'racist’ (22%) or ‘far-right’ (20%).
Who is responsible for the riots?
Most responsible for the violence in the eyes of the public are the rioters themselves, with nine in ten Britons (88%) viewing them as at least somewhat responsible for causing the unrest, including seven in ten (71%) viewing them as holding a great deal of responsibility.
But social media is similarly seen as highly responsible for the riots, with 86% of the public viewing them as a key driving force in the unfolding unrest. More conventional news media is also blamed by seven in ten Britons (69%) as having driven the riots to some degree, with only one in five (19%) believing they aren’t responsible.
There’s also broad agreement that the riots would not have taken place without the actions of organised far-right groups, with three-quarters of Britons (74%) giving them responsibility for the riots and only one in nine (11%) feeling they are not responsible for recent events. A clear majority of the public (57%) also attribute responsibility to notable far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson.
Only 46% of the public believe that the recent violence has really been to do with the Southport murders, with a similar number (47%) viewing Reform UK leader Nigel Farage as holding some level of responsibility for the unrest.
But beyond personal responsibility and the more immediate triggers, the public view there as being longer-term political causes too. Two-thirds of Britons (67%) view immigration policy over recent years as having contributed to the violence, with 55% saying the same of recent Conservative governments.
The public are less inclined to believe the new Labour government or Keir Starmer are responsible, with only around a third of Britons (33-36%) holding either responsible for the riots. Of the options polled, Muslims are least likely to be responsible, with only a quarter of Britons (25%) believing they are, against six in ten (59%) not blaming them.
As with much of the response to the riots, the divide between different groups of voters is apparent here. While all voters overwhelmingly agree that the rioters themselves hold a degree of responsibility, ranging from 96% of Lib Dems through 91% of Conservatives to 84% of Reform voters, the contributing causes are not always agreed upon.
Some of this is basic partisanship – Labour voters are more likely to see the previous Conservative government as holding some responsibility than Tories are (70% vs 36%), while the half of Conservatives (54%) who blame the current Labour government compares to only one in eight Labour voters (13%).
But there are some less intrinsic splits too. Reform voters are noticeably more likely to blame immigration policy – a near unanimous 95% viewing it as a contributing factor – with eight in ten (82%) also seeing immigrants themselves as responsible, more than the half (49%) who blame far-right groups and the three in ten (31%) who view Tommy Robinson as somewhat culpable.
Britons tend to think that Keir Starmer is handling the riots badly
Just 31% of Britons say that Keir Starmer is handling the riots well, while almost half think (49%) he is handling them badly.
Britons are less likely to have a view on home secretary Yvette Cooper’s performance, but overall she too scores negatively: while 23% think she is handling the situation well, 43% say she is handling it badly.
Labour and Lib Dem voters tend to have a positive view of how well Starmer and Cooper are handling the crisis, while Conservative and Reform UK voters generally think they are doing poorly.
Policing and the 2024 riots
Britons generally believe that the police are handling the riots well, with 52% saying so, although only 13% think they are handling the unrest “very well”. While the number thinking the police are doing well includes 61-69% of Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem voters, only 36% of Reform UK voters feel the same way.
A third of all Britons believe the police have handled the riots badly (34%), with this figure rising to 57% of those who backed Nigel Farage’s party last month.
While half of Britons think the police have handled the riots well so far, notably fewer are confident in the police’s ability to protect people and property from further unrest. Only 38% say so, including only 6% with “a lot” of confidence. Most (58%) express little to no confidence in the police’s capacity to protect against further rioting.
Labour and Lib Dem voters are relatively evenly split in this regard, but 57% of Conservative voters are not confident, a figure rising to 79% among Reform UK voters.
The public also tend to think that the police response so far has not been tough enough (52%). This is the most common response across party lines, although Reform UK voters (43%) are notably less likely to say so than those from other main parties (52-58%).
A quarter of Britons think the police response has been about right (24%). While only 6% think it has been too tough, this includes fully a quarter (26%) of Reform UK voters.
While half of people may think that the police response has not been tough enough, only one in five (19%) say police should be allowed to use firearms and live ammunition to deal with the riots – 71% of people are opposed, including at least two thirds of voters across the four biggest parties.
There is plurality support for allowing the police to use plastic bullets (by 48% to 40%), and other measures the police could take like using tear gas (64%), tasers (75%) and water cannon (75%), deploying mounted police (72%), or setting curfews (72%), receive significant support.
Most Britons support using the army to help deal with unrest
Defence secretary John Healey has ruled out bringing in the armed forces to quell disturbances, although some – including Nigel Farage – have called for the option to not be discounted.
The majority of the Britons would back the army being brought in to help deal with the unrest, at 62%. Around two thirds of Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem voters (66-68%) support bringing in the army, although this falls to 51% among Reform UK voters despite Nigel Farage’s statement. Four in ten Reform UK voters (43%) oppose the use of the army, compared to 28% of all Britons and 24-25% of voters from other parties.
The legal system and the 2024 riots – most people think the rioters will get away with it
It may be a bit too early to properly assess how well the legal system is able to deal with this year’s unrest, but initial impressions among the public are not good. So far, 27% of Britons feel that the legal system has handled the unrest well, compared to 45% who think it has handled it badly.
Only a third of Britons (34%) have trust in the courts to sentence those carrying out the recent unrest effectively, compared to 56% who don’t trust them to do so.
Across both of these questions, Labour and Lib Dem voters are slightly more likely than not to hold the positive view on the legal system, while most Conservatives and especially Reform UK voters take the negative position.
When it comes to whether or not justice will be served to rioters, the public are strongly pessimistic. Only 22% believe that at least the majority of rioters will be prosecuted and punished, compared to 70% who think that the majority will get away with it. Such negativity is shared by all voters for the four biggest parties.
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Photo: Getty
