Far-right riots centred on England’s deprivation hotspots

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Seven of the ten most deprived areas of England witnessed riots in the past two weeks, according to a Financial Times analysis of where far-right violence flared across the country.

Many of the areas affected also have a higher-than-average proportion of asylum seekers in taxpayer-funded accommodation, a legacy of the previous Conservative government’s policy of housing migrants in hotels in cheaper areas while they are being processed.

As of Thursday afternoon, violence has broken out in 23 local authorities since July 30.

Seven — Middlesbrough, Blackpool, Liverpool, Hartlepool, Hull, Manchester and Blackburn — are in the top 10 most deprived areas, according to the government’s Indices of Deprivation.

Home Office data shows these seven are also home to some of the highest numbers of asylum seekers receiving government support and accommodation per capita of the population.

Liverpool is one of the top ten locations for asylum seekers receiving government support out of more than 300 local authorities in England.

Almost all of the areas hit by riots returned Labour MPs in last month’s election, while a third of the parliamentary constituencies affected saw the anti-immigration Reform UK party come second.

Although violence has erupted across the country, with hundreds of people arrested, the findings indicate a relationship between pockets of poverty and the bouts of unrest witnessed in the past 10 days.

“These are often communities that are already socio-economically deprived, and have high unemployment, which can contribute to a sense that there is competition for scant resources,” said Rob McNeil, deputy director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford.

He added that asylum accommodation tended to be concentrated in struggling areas because it was more affordable for the government. 

Lawyers responding to the analysis cautioned against drawing a direct causal link between local levels of asylum seekers and rioting, but criticised the previous Conservative government’s decision to place asylum hotels in some of the most deprived areas of the country.

Zoe Bantleman, a barrister and legal director of the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association, said the body had long opposed the Tory decision to house tens of thousands of asylum seekers in hotels in struggling towns and cities.

“Prior governments chose to place people seeking asylum in cheap hotels, with private companies profiting millions,” she said. “They ignored our calls to find people community-based accommodation in areas of the UK with the necessary support and infrastructure.”

She added: “Senior politicians then stigmatised people seeking asylum in hotels, for their cost to the public purse, making hotels a lightning pole for rioters.”

Around 35 per cent of the roughly 100,000 asylum seekers receiving government support were housed in hotels in March of this year, according to Home Office data.

Labour says it plans to end the use of asylum hotels, large-scale military sites and barges within a year of hiring 1,000 extra caseworkers to process asylum seekers’ claims.

There are at least 25 parliamentary constituencies — which are distinct from local authorities — where violent disorder has erupted since the beginning of last week, according to data analysis by the FT.

Some 21 of the flashpoints took place in constituencies won by Labour at the general election last month.

In nine of the 21 Labour-held seats where there has been unrest, the populist Reform UK came second in the polls. Nigel Farage’s party has called for a “freeze” on non-essential immigration into the UK.

Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University London, said: “Labour is aware clearly that Reform does not pose a threat simply to the Conservatives and they need to be wary of anti-immigration feeling.”

He added that Labour probably regarded economic progress as being key to tackling the issue, “as much as actually regaining control of our borders as far as small boats are concerned”.

A YouGov poll published on Wednesday also showed that immigration is now the public’s most important national issue, as 51 per cent of people said it was a top issue facing the country. It is the first time immigration has topped the pollster’s issues tracker since 2016 — the year that the UK voted narrowly to leave the EU.

The significance of the subject is more pronounced among supporters of rightwing parties: 90 per cent of Reform UK voters said it was a top issue facing the country, alongside 76 per cent of Tory voters.

While only around a third of Labour voters cited immigration as a top issue, it marked a seven-year high point among this group.

Map created by Ella Hollowood