DELIVERY drivers in the gig economy are fearing for their lives because of the wave of far-right riots that continue across the country.
The largely migrant workforce are being forced to stay at home due to the fear of violence, said the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB).
One delivery rider, who works in Rochdale and wished to remain anonymous, said: “After seeing the violent attacks that have taken place over the last few days, I don’t feel safe going out to work anymore.
“Because of the colour of my skin, because of my chosen faith, I’m terrified to leave my house, knowing I could be targeted by thugs and put in harm’s way.
“I feel like I have no choice but to stay at home with my family and sacrifice my income in favour of our safety.”
He added: “When we were unable to work during the pandemic, many workers had access to the furlough scheme or the self-employed income support scheme to help us stay safe.
“Right now our safety is once again at risk. The government and gig platforms have a duty to protect us from harm.”
The IWGB is demanding government, councils and gig economy apps such as Deliveroo and Uber Eats compensate the workers for their losses during the riots.
It blamed both major parties for “pandering to far-right extremism and contributing to the normalisation of racism and Islamophobia.”
“Workers should not have to choose between risking their lives and making enough money to live,” IWGB private hire drivers branch chair Nader Awaad said.
“There are a range of measures that would help reduce the risks facing people of colour, including shutting down services in areas where there is violence and compensating the workers affected, providing full compensation to any worker whose vehicle is damaged, and removing penalties for workers turning down jobs.”
A Deliveroo spokeswoman said: “We have been appalled to see this violence. Deliveroo is rooted in local communities and we believe everyone has the right to respect and security.
“The safety of our riders, partners and customers is our top priority and we continue to monitor developments closely.
“We have written to our rider fleet to reiterate key safety information and if needed we will take decisions in impacted areas to ensure safety.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was due to chair a second emergency Cobra meeting on continued action to tackle the riots this evening when this story was published.
Police were today braced for an eighth night of disorder, with reports of at least 30 possible gatherings across the country tomorrow.
Over 400 arrests have been made since rioting began last week and approximately 100 charges made, including 46 on Monday and 18 overnight into Tuesday.
NHS staff were told by Health Secretary Wes Streeting that they “can and should” turn away people who are racist in health settings.
Mr Streeting said those who attacked Filipino nurses in Sunderland on Friday evening as they travelled to work to provide emergency cover during unrest had “brought enormous shame on our country.”
Britain’s chief prosecutor said he was confident the justice system had “the capacity and the capability to deal with the work that’s there and the work that we anticipate coming forward.”
Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson said he was “absolutely” seeking to charge people for online offences related to the rioting, added that acting outside Britain “doesn’t mean they’re safe.
“We have liaison prosecutors spread around the globe who’ve got local links with the local judiciary and law enforcement, [and] the police are also stationed abroad,” he said.
Concerns for the safety of immigration law specialists have meanwhile been raised after a list of solicitors’ firms and advice agencies was shared in chat groups as targets for gatherings in the coming days.
Elon Musk meanwhile ramped up his spat with the British government, branding the Prime Minister “two-tier Keir” today.
The billionaire owner of X (formerly Twitter) also questioned if it was “Britain or the Soviet Union” after a man was apparently arrested over Facebook comments.
Polling today however found more than half of Britons think the Tory governments of the past 14 years bear some responsibility for the ongoing riots.
Justice minister Heidi Alexander said courts “could possibly” begin sitting through the evening, the night and at weekends in order to prosecute rioters swiftly.
The widespread disorder across the country followed the fatal stabbings of three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in Southport last week.
Hundreds of people attended a peaceful vigil in the Merseyside town on Monday evening, a week on from the murders of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Dasilva Aguiar.
Incorrect rumours that the suspect was an asylum-seeker who arrived in Britain on a small boat — which spread across social media — appear to have fuelled the unrest.
A spokeswoman for Momentum said: “The horrendous far-right violence we are seeing is the culmination of decades of attacks on Muslims, migrants and asylum-seekers from the media and front-line politicians of both parties.
“It must be combatted not simply with law and order but with a forthright political response which challenges the ideas of the far right head on.”
