The latest to go on the offensive is Tom Tugendhat, a shadow cabinet member, who has accused Keir Starmer of a "failure of leadership", saying that the prime minister "fell short" in the first test of his premiership. Tugendhat then extended his criticism to operational matters not normally intruded upon by politicians, suggesting that police officers had not acted "without fear or favour" during some of the counterdemonstrations.
What else have they been saying?
While Kemi Badenoch and Mel Stride have kept their own counsel, each of the other four candidates has directly criticised the prime minister. As well as the bald allegation of "failure", Tugendhat, a former security minister, said that the unrest "could, and should, have been stopped earlier". He argued that the lessons of the 2011 riots had not been applied, and that a high-level Cobra meeting should have been convened sooner, with more police deployed and the army used for "back-up office duties".
Starmer's "standing army" of police was derided as "in truth a PR line, not a policy".
This story is from the August 15, 2024 edition of The Independent.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the August 15, 2024 edition of The Independent.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
'Fight days are for fighting, not chatting to each other'
This Saturday, Joshua Buatsi will share a card with his friend Anthony Joshua for the fourth time, boxing Willy Hutchinson for an interim title at Wembley. Alex Pattle gets the lowdown
F1 title opening could prove to be Norris's only chance
Under the afternoon sun on Saturday in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku, it felt like the moment the drivers’ title slipped away from Lando Norris.
The Man City hearing must answer these two questions
Amid all of the uncertainty around the Manchester City investigation, there is one view that can be stated with confidence as it finally gets under way.
Super clubs have nothing to fear from Uefa's shake-up
As a new Champions League format makes its debut today, Miguel Delaney looks at what it means for the competition
Final messages from Titan before implosion revealed
“All good here.”
New Zealand's bird of the year picked up by a penguin
A rare, smelly and yellow-eyed penguin species has been crowned New Zealand’s bird of the year for the second time in less than a decade.
Death toll rises as floods devastate central Europe
The death toll across central Europe from the worst flooding in decades has risen to at least 16 after Storm Boris brought a month’s worth of rain in just 24 hours.
Germany reimposes border controls to tackle migration
Germany has reintroduced checks on all nine of its land borders in a move that has angered a number of its neighbours – but brought praise from the far right.
Putin boosts troop numbers as missiles pummel Ukraine
President Vladimir Putin yesterday ordered the regular size of the Russian army to increase by 180,000 troops to 1.5 million soldiers, the third time he has expanded its ranks since sending the military into Ukraine in February 2022.
'I figured he must be either dead or in prison by now...'
Those who know Ryan Routh talk of his previous 'escapades'