Rishi Sunak has just appeared on the steps of Downing Street to give a speech on the need to take action after ‘a shocking increase in extremist disruption and criminality’ in recent weeks. On the day former Labour MP George Galloway was announced as the new MP for Rochdale, the Prime Minister said ‘this situation has gone on long enough’, arguing that ‘Islamist extremists and far rights groups are spreading a poison, that poison is extremism’. Responding directly to Galloway’s victory in the by-election, Sunak said:

It is beyond horrifying that last night the Rochdale by election returned a candidate who denies the horror of what happened on October 7th, who glorifies Hezbollah and is endorsed by Nick Griffin, the racist former leader of the British National party. I need to speak to you all this evening because this situation has gone on long enough.

Sunak went on to say that the events of the past few weeks involving Islamist extremists and the far right are linked as the two ‘feed off and embolden each other’. The Conservative leader went on to say both groups want to tell lies about the UK and British values, so in response ‘we must be prepared to stand up for our shared values in all circumstances, no matter how difficult’.

As for what that involves, Sunak suggested the police need to step up. He met with senior police officers this week to make the point that it is not enough to ‘manage’ the protests, they must be policed: ‘You cannot call for violent Jihad. There is no “context” in which it can be acceptable to beam antisemitic tropes onto Big Ben in the middle of a vote on Israel/Gaza.’

As well as calling on the police to do more, Sunak said the government would take further action against extremism by redoubling support for Prevent, demanding universities crack down on hate and cancelling visas for those who practise extremism. He tried to conclude the speech on a unifying note by saying that if the right steps are taken ‘we can make this a country in which we all feel a renewed sense of pride’:

When they tell their lies, we will tell the truth. When they try and sap our confidence, we will redouble our efforts and when they try and make us doubt each other we will dig deeper for that extra ounce of compassion and empathy that they want us to believe doesn’t exist, but that I know does.

So, what was behind today’s intervention? The speech wasn’t exactly new in policy measures – even if he appeared to take a slightly tougher line than before on the police. There will be some watching the speech wondering why it has taken until this point for Sunak to instruct the police to go further on the protests. The measures he announced, too, are not exactly new ideas.

It was notable that Sunak did not mention Labour in his speech

Instead, this was more about the general message and Sunak’s attempt to show moral leadership after a bruising few weeks with the vote in parliament last week, the suspension of Lee Anderson from the Tory party and now the election of George Galloway. His team hope that the fact that he is the first Asian prime minister means he is in a strong position to dispute the idea this is a racist country and can instead ease some of the current tensions. It was notable that Sunak did not mention Labour in his speech – positively or negatively. This is because the Prime Minister is trying to rise above the political fray on the issue rather than making it a partisan attack.

As for whether Sunak’s words will pay off, the next few weeks will be crucial when it comes to his attempt to turn down the temperature of political debate. But the hope in Downing Street, is that Sunak’s speech, which was perhaps his most personal since entering No. 10, shows leadership at a time when many MPs feel events are spiralling out of their control.