Almost half of public believe Starmer is handling riots badly

YouGov poll finds only 31 per cent agreeing that Prime Minister is managing situation well

Nearly half of people believe Sir Keir Starmer’s handling of the riots sweeping Britain is poor, a poll has found.
The YouGov poll found that 49 per cent of 2,114 adults surveyed on Monday felt the Prime Minister was dealing with the violence badly. Only 31 per cent agreed that he was managing it well.
Sir Keir has vowed that rioters will rapidly face “the full force of the law” while announcing another Cobra emergency meeting about the ongoing disorder.
Almost 400 people have been arrested in connection with the violence, which has erupted in more than two dozen cities and towns in England, Wales and Northern Ireland over the past six days.
Around a quarter of those arrested have been charged, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service has said.
Far-Right agitators have attacked mosques, hotels and police following wrongful claims on social media that the suspect accused of killing three children and injuring 10 other people in Southport last week was a Muslim immigrant.
A vigil in Southport to commemorate the victims last Monday was hijacked by English Defence League (EDL) members, who threw petrol bombs at the town’s mosque and tried to smash down its door.
Britons tend to think that Keir Starmer is handling the riots badlyWell: 31%Badly: 49%https://t.co/5UAbLteddN pic.twitter.com/7p8pymQBmQ
The YouGov poll also found that 43 per cent of respondents thought that Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, was handling the riots badly.
Only 14 per cent of people said politicians generally were handling the riots well, while one in three were supportive of non-violent protests that have happened alongside some of the unrest.
Social media was seen as largely responsible for the riots, with 86 per cent of people viewing it as a key driving force.
Tommy Robinson, the co-founder of the EDL, was held to be responsible by 57 per cent of those surveyed. 
Robinson, 41 – whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – has been accused of stoking far-Right sentiment online while on holiday at a five-star hotel in Cyprus. He has denied orchestrating or encouraging violence.
A warrant for his arrest was issued on July 29 after he failed to appear at the High Court in relation to a separate contempt of court case.
Sixty-seven per cent of people surveyed attributed immigration policy as a factor behind the riots, while a third blamed online misinformation from Russia that amplified claims the Southport suspect was an asylum seeker.
On Thursday, Sir Richard Dearlove, a former head of MI6, said Vladimir Putin was stoking tension online as part of the regime’s “grey warfare” against the UK. He said the spread of fake news was a “fundamental tactic” used by the Kremlin.