Politicians should work to “reduce and defuse tensions” instead of stoking division, a senior chief constable has said.
Gavin Stephens, who chairs the National Police Chiefs’ Council, was speaking after weeks of demonstrations against asylum seekers being housed in hotels, and counter-protests by those who fear the issue is mobilising the far right and demonising vulnerable people.
Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, claimed in July that Britain was getting close to “civil disobedience on a vast scale”.
Stephens said such claims were “exaggerated” but the intense row over asylum seekers had caused “a climate of increasing tension and polarity”.
He stressed he did not want to speak about any particular politician but said: “I guess what we’re saying today is that anybody in a leadership position should think about how we can reduce and defuse tensions, and not sow division.”
Behind the scenes, his senior colleagues believe some rhetoric from politicians on the right has at best been careless at a time of heightened tensions.
Stephens, who served as Surrey’s chief constable, said: “There is a climate of increasing tension and polarity in what we’re seeing, and it’s a huge disappointment to all of us that we’ve seen criminality creep into this protest activity.
“It’s clear to all of us that we can see more community tension and more division. And I think we all have a responsibility – policing included – to set the tone. We all want to live in places where we feel safe, and I think everybody has a responsibility.”
The national public order centre was notified of 3,081 protests from June to August compared with 2,942 last year and 928 in 2023.
Stephens said police this year were under “chronic pressure” when compared with last year when the worst riots since 2011 placed officers in England under “acute” strain.
He said the need for police to attend protests meant they had been diverted from fighting crime.
Stephens, a police officer for 32 years, said: “I can think of a number of points in recent history where tensions rise, where there’s disquiet. The last two summers have definitely felt like that, and this summer has felt like an enduring summer, rather than the sort of acute one that we had last year.
“My other reflection is that I think we always find a moment as a society, as communities, to sort of reset and come back together again.”
Stephens stressed that peaceful protests must be facilitated by police and said the tensions were only in certain parts of the country and not at the same intensity across the UK.
“There are tens of thousands of areas across the country where this does not register. My mum lives in rural and North Yorkshire. I’ve been up there for a couple of weekends over the summer. This does not feature in many, in many communities.”
