Ben Habib has launched a fresh attack on Sir Keir Starmer after defending Britons who took to the streets in late July and early August.
The former deputy leader of Reform UK expressed his outrage at the handling of the UK riots by the Prime Minister just hours after the news that one jailed rioter has died in prison.
Peter Lynch, a 61-year old grandfather, died on Saturday night at HMP Moorland after being imprisoned for “violent disorder” in Rotherham.
Reacting to the news of Lynch’s death, Habib fumed that Starmer at the time had “castigated” the rioters, by “classifying them all as far-right” and “guilty”.
Ben Habib told Scarlett MccGwire that those rioting were ‘not far-right’, but actually ‘at the end of their tether’
GB News
Habib fumed: “The Prime Minister got up and he said, these people are all far-right. How does he know their political disposition? The Home Office put out a tweet talking about the criminals who had been apprehended. They’re not criminals until they’re convicted.
“I was horrified by the Prime Minister’s reaction, the way that he found the political castigation of these people.”
In complete disagreement with Habib, political commentator Scarlett MccGwire hit back at the former MEP, claiming that “nobody was making a fuss” during the riots of 2011.
MccGwire explained: “In the 2011 riots, everybody was calling for them to be jailed, and Keir Starmer made sure that they were being jailed. And people like you, like Nigel Farage did not say a word. All of a sudden now in these riots, you have.
The Prime Minister claimed those taking part in the riots were ‘far-right’
PA
“They were mostly young men, and they were rioting against the state. We had Keir Starmer sending them to jail. But now, we know how scared people were in these riots.”
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As Habib then interjected that the riots were “politicised”, MccGwire fumed: “Weren’t you horrified by the rioters? Three little girls were killed. And what happened? They came into Southport and they started attacking a mosque.
“The people of Southport were furious, and the people of Southport went to help. Those people were criminal.”
Habib then argued: “There can be no excuse for the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom getting up on television, speaking to the nation, defining these people as far-right, castigating them, finding them effectively guilty before trial, with the Home Office doing the same.
“He categorised all those who were at those demonstrations as far-right. And if I were to hazard a guess at their political disposition, I would say they are the dispossessed, typical white working class of this country who typically would have voted Labour, and I don’t see them as far-right. I see them as people who are at the end of their tether.”
Ben Habib and Scarlett MccGwire clashed on Keir Starmer’s handling of the summer UK riots
GB News
Turning the debate to Peter Lynch, Habib claimed we will “never get to the bottom” of what really happened to him.
Habib concluded: “We’ll never really fully understand it. But all the media reports talk about what he said and what he had on his placard.
“And I can’t make any case for someone going to jail for two years and eight months and dying in jail when repeat offenders are being let out early by this government. We have a criminal justice system which is not working.”
