Tory response to the riots is exposing party's irrelevancy

How would the Conservatives have handled the violent disorder if Rishi Sunak had not called the election, and they were still in charge?

- ANDREW GRICE

On tough policing and sentencing, I think they would have done the same as the Labour government. Instead of Keir Starmer's useful unique selling point as a former director of public prosecutions, Sunak’s would have been as Britain’s first British Asian prime minister. Perhaps there might have been some Islamophobic noises made in a party which hasn’t eradicated it, but not from his government.

The words Sunak used to condemn the riots could have been uttered by Starmer, continuing the remarkable consensus between them on many issues since their bitter election clashes. Some senior Tories admit privately Starmer has handled his first crisis well and looked prime ministerial. Not the official line, of course.

If he were still opposition leader, Starmer would surely have adopted a non-partisan response to the disorder, as he did during the pandemic – even though the absence of normal politics made it hard to introduce himself to the public when he became Labour leader. Sunak’s approach is right. Sadly, some of the candidates vying to be his successor have not shown such restraint and have pandered to the Tory party members who decide the leadership election.