Just a month ago in this column I worried about “a slide towards sectarianism”.  It’s to the credit of the people who live in Wales, that we haven’t yet (at the time of writing) seen examples of the unrest “provoked” by the Southport killings.  But there is no room for complacency.  With Welsh citizens in Swansea expressing fear to leave their homes, it is time for everyone to take great care, especially our political leaders.

It’s a painful truth that the young man accused of the Southport killings was born in Wales.  The fact that his parents came from Rwanda is of no relevance.  He is a Welshman.  This is our society, and we have to make it work.

We don’t know the motivation for this apparently senseless act of violence.  We do know that the accused was not an illegal migrant.  It does not appear to be a terrorist related incident.  It is frustrating that more information is not available.  Everyone is entitled to a fair trial but maybe those in authority should be looking at information management in a case like this.  With his experience as a previous Director of Public Prosecutions, Sir Keir Starmer is uniquely well qualified to lead on this.

There are suggestions that the information vacuum has been exploited (perhaps by foreign players) in pursuit of personal agendas.  That could be for political gain, or simply a desire to undermine our institutions and society.  It’s a great opportunity for populists to cause mischief, and good people from right across the political spectrum must push back against them.

As Tony Blair famously said, we need to be “tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime”.  Those who remember the Brixton and Toxteth riots of the early 1980s will recall that the Thatcher Government supported the forces of Law and Order unequivocally, but also addressed the underlying causes of discontent with the Scarman Enquiry and projects for urban regeneration.

So it’s a worry to see problems casually attributed to “far Right” extremists and thugs.  Those rioting may or may not have political affiliation.  Their behaviour is inexcusable.  But their unaddressed anxieties represent a failure of political leadership.  And the irony is that many will come from communities whose automatic support for left wing parties would have been taken for granted, less than a generation ago.  Indeed, many of our current problems may be driven by the fact that they have been taken for granted. 

There’s an elephant in the room here.  We are in real danger of fragmenting as a country and that won’t be good for anyone.  The plain fact of the matter is that we are now a multi-ethnic, multi-coloured and multi (or no) faith society.  And we have to make that work. That’s going to require tolerance and respect, given and received by all.  Laws must apply equally to all, without fear or favour.  Importantly that must be the reality and also the perception.  The rights we all have to try to change things through the ballot box must be upheld, and also respected.  There should be no place for intimidation, vote rigging or electoral fraud. 

We are blessed in this country with a democratic settlement that has evolved over centuries.  Our institutions have changed with the times and will continue to do so.  But we need to resist a mania for change just for the sake of it, and so often poorly though through.  For example, it is right that the Hereditary Peers now go.  But it would be wrong to abolish The House of Lords without very careful consideration of what comes next, including widespread consultation and consensus.

Here in Wales people seem to be slowly waking up to the magnitude of the Senedd Reforms pushed through with a questionable mandate and minimal consultation.  If democracy is the government of the people, by the people for the people then we must guard against the evolution of a self-serving, self-appointed political elite.  Our politicians must remember that they serve to lead, and even those in opposition bear responsibility for that.