Prepare for a summer of disorder and unrest

The rising tide of violence on the streets is a greater threat to the public than a few crowded beaches

As temperatures peaked this week, no-one can have been surprised by the scenes of packed beaches, social distancing apparently abandoned as the great British public soaked up the sun. From Brighton to Bournemouth, those cheerful beachgoers decided that sunbathing and swimming will do more for their physical and mental health than staying at home, and they are probably right. The risk of catching Covid in the open air is now miniscule; most children still can’t go to school, and around half the workforce is either furloughed or unemployed, so going to the beach makes perfect sense.

But the darker side to this summer’s enforced idleness was equally predictable.

On Wednesday evening, just a few miles from Brighton, hundreds of teenagers gathered in a park in Hove, taunting the police, who intervened as fights broke out. Later that evening, street parties in Brixton erupted into more serious violence, with police cars jumped on and 22 officers injured.

Elsewhere, police have reported a spike in knife crime, with seven serious stabbings taking place in the West Midlands within the last week. The lull in crime that took place during lockdown, which apparently left the police with nothing more serious to do than tell sunbathers to go home, is well and truly over.

Are the police ready to face the challenge of a summer of unrest? Early signs are not very encouraging. One of the most disturbing images to flash up on our screens during the first Black Lives Matter protests was of police officers running away from the crowd as it turned violent. The desire to show that the British police do not resemble their US counterparts appeared to lead to a situation where showing solidarity with protesters took precedence over keeping order.

Working with, rather than against, the public, has underpinned British policing since the days it was founded by Robert Peel. But the principles laid down at the formation of Peel’s force in the 1820s included the requirement to “seek and preserve public favour, not by pandering to public opinion, but by constantly demonstrating absolutely impartial service to the law”.

Such “absolutely impartial service” has been watered down in recent years by the demands of equality and diversity. That should not, however, provide an excuse for the police to stand back while protesters occupy the streets and pull down statues. Scenes from the Black Lives Matter demonstrations left the law-abiding public uneasy about who is really in charge of the streets and parks of our towns and cities.

That is a question which cannot be left hanging in the air just now. The ingredients for a summer of unrest are all disturbingly present. Most teenagers have been out of school for months and some of them, perhaps not unreasonably, have lost the habit of studying altogether. Their future does not look great. Universities and colleges are closed and the prospects of casual summer jobs, as well as longer term employment, are low.

Added to this, clubs, gyms and most facilities for organised sport are closed, and socialising indoors is precluded by health guidance. In a desperate effort to reawaken the hospitality trade, the Government is to license pubs and bars to serve drinks on the street.

It is not hard to see where the combination of enforced idleness and outdoors-only entertainment ends up. For a lucky few, opera on the lawns of Glyndebourne. For the rest, street parties that can easily run out of control.

Over the last three months, we have been told to stay at home to “Keep safe”. Public compliance has rested largely on the fear of catching Covid-19, a fear stoked by the Government and promoted by parts of the media. Despite the current low incidence of infection, the Government still insists that caution must be our watchword. But it will be a tragic irony if the fear of violence in our towns and cities leaves people cowering at home.

Police chiefs need to stand with the Home Secretary to show that keeping order on the streets is their priority, and that outbreaks of violence present a bigger threat to our safety than the dreaded virus.