A week of threats has not had the expected impact for Sir Keir Starmer, who on Monday announced a change of tack with the establishment of a “standing army” to crush unrest wherever it appeared.
The prime minister, a seasoned lawyer with a usually confident and shrewd style, at times seemed unsure of his words and lacked his usual energy as he spoke to reporters on Monday after leaving a government crisis meeting.
Speaking at his official residence and Downing Street office, where a certain degree of bunker mentality seems to have set in, the husband of the Home Secretary (Home Secretary) complained that no he had seen his wife of a week on national television this morning. Sir Keir said of what had been agreed next steps: “The first is that we will have a standing army of specialist officers… [unintelligible]… so we will have enough agents to do it where we need them”.
However, the Prime Minister still seemed happy enough with the recording to release it through his official channel a few hours later.
This is not protest, it is pure violence.
We will have a standing army of civil service officers.
We will increase criminal justice.
We will enforce criminal law online and offline.
We will not tolerate attacks on mosques or Muslim communities. pic.twitter.com/C1SmjJjo4R
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) August 5, 2024
Of course, “standing army” has a specific meaning, referring to a standing, professional force of soldiers paid for by the state. While this may be the status quo for most nation-states in the 21st century, until modern times in England, maintaining a full-time army was considered prohibitive. Only the truly important elements of national defense, a fighting navy and an artillery establishment, were continuously paid for, as these would take too long to regenerate in the event of an unexpected war.
Britain's first standing army was Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army, used to win a civil war and then enforce a period of direct military rule under major generals, intended to weaken enemies of the state that Cromwell perceived as dangerous conspirators after an attempted uprising.
As the country waited days to learn even the tiniest details of the mass stabbing of young children a week ago, an information vacuum was created that many have contributed to the feverish atmosphere which sparked protests, Sir Keir was clear today that there would be no need to wait to find out the identities of those being prosecuted for rioting. “I have asked that the name and identification of those involved in the process be considered as soon as possible, who will feel the full force of the law,” he said.
Police name child victims killed in mass stabbinghttps://t.co/KGI7tULA2N
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) July 30, 2024
Sir Keir's stammer was clearly not the only attendee to rock Monday's COBRA (UK government emergency management committee) meeting at the Cabinet Office. Sir Mark Rowley, the country's top police officer was also around the table and clearly so moved by all that had happened inside, he snapped at a reporter as he left the building. taking the microphone from the man from his hand and throwing him to the ground.
The top cop may have felt snubbed after the reporter in question asked him “Are we going to end two-tier policing, sir?”, referring to the growing number of observers asking why there appears to be such a clear difference in police response between communities when they take to the streets. However, the government does not seem to consider the issue worth engaging with: the Home Secretary dodged the question when asked on breakfast TV on Monday, and the Prime Minister on his “Standing Army” press conference also dodged the answer.
He responded when asked by the BBC: “there is no two-tiered policing. There is policing without fear or favour, exactly as it should be, exactly what I would expect and require. So that's not a problem… This is not a protest. It is violence.”
Losing control: London's police chief rips microphone from reporter's hand as he questions him about two levels of policinghttps://t.co/9rYT0pNk2p
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) August 5, 2024
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