Deprivation and immigration straining cohesion, says Rayner

Angela Rayner has identified deprivation, time spent online and immigration as factors weaking social cohesion in the UK.

Presenting the findings of her year-long study, commissioned in the wake of a wave of riots across the UK sparked by the murder of three girls in Southport, the deputy prime minister told ministers they must confront people’s “real concerns” to rebuild trust.

Downing Street said the unreleased study will form the backbone of the Plan for Neighbourhoods, which promises to invest £1.5 billion in 75 of the “most deprived” areas across the UK over the next decade.

Her comments come ahead of the first anniversary the Southport attack on 29 July.

Axel Rudakubana is serving a life sentence for murdering Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Da Silva Aguiar when he attacked a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport.

Eight other girls were seriously injured, along with two adults who tried to stop the killer.

Protests about the killing developed into a riot on 30 July, fuelled by misinformation alleging Rudakubana, who was born in Cardiff, was a migrant.

The riot was quickly followed by violent disorder across the country – leading to more than 600 arrests by police.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described the riots as “far-right thuggery,” with crowds targeting mosques and accommodation housing asylum seekers.

On Tuesday, Rayner said 17 of the 18 worst-hit areas were among the most deprived in the UK.

“While Britain was a successful multi-ethnic, multi-faith country, the government had to show it had a plan to address people’s concerns and provide opportunities for everyone to flourish,” she warned.

A read out of the Cabinet meeting said Rayner told colleagues: “Economic insecurity, the rapid pace of de-industrialisation, immigration and the impacts on local communities and public services, technological change and the amount of time people were spending alone online, and declining trust in institutions was having a profound impact on society.”

Rayner said it was “incumbent on the government to acknowledge the real concerns people have and to deliver improvements to people’s lives and their communities,” the readout said.

Sir Keir said the country will never forget the “unimaginable tragedy” of the “horrific” Southport attacks.

This week the government unveiled details of plans to impose life sentences on suspects found to be preparing mass killings in an effort to prevent Southport style attacks from happening again.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the criminal justice system had to be given new tools to respond to violence-fixated individuals who are not motivated by a particular ideology.

Cooper told the BBC that the government will “close the gap” between such offenders and lone, violence-obsessed individuals by giving police the power to apprehend them long before they can act.

On Sunday, police arrested six people in connection with a protest outside a hotel used to house asylum seekers in Essex that has been running since Thursday.

Bottles and smoke flares were thrown towards police vehicles during the demonstration which saw more than 1,000 people gathered outside the Bell Hotel in Epping.

The protests followed the arrest and charge of an asylum seeker over an alleged sexual assault on a girl.

The disorder followed the arrest and charge of an asylum seeker last week on suspicion of alleged sexual assaults in the town.

Downing Street previously said the scenes at Epping were “unacceptable”.