The Northern Agenda

Nasty individuals, racists and useful idiots | How riots unfolded in Rotherham and Middlesbrough

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Episode notes

Only a few weeks ago the big story in many of our Northern communities was the rioting and disorder we saw this summer, seemingly sparked by the horrific killing in Southport.

We saw violence break out across the country but it seemed like much of it was in the North, places like Sunderland and Darlington, Blackpool, Hull, Preston and Liverpool.

Since then we've seen a steady stream of the perpetrators hauled before the courts and in some instances handed hefty prison sentences. But with the dust now settled, how much do we understand about why the rioting spread so easily and why so many people - often with no previous history of criminal activity - decided to get involved?

Rob Parsons speaks to Chris Read - council leader in Rotherham, where a hotel housing asylum seekers came under attack - and Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner Matt Storey about how the violence unfolded in their patch, what they think caused it and whether we can stop it happening again.

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