Is David Starkey Guilty of The Incitement to Racial Hatred?

Historian David Starkey provokes a storm of criticism after remarks during a televised discussion about the riots on BBC2's Newsnight. Mr. Starkey has attacked blacks for the riots which took place in London.

"I fear that some people will now say that David Starkey is right, and you could already see some of them on Twitter. I am worried about a backlash from the right and he will give legitimacy to those views in the minds of some." On the programme, Starkey said: "The whites have become black. A particular sort of violent destructive, nihilistic gangster culture has become the fashion and black and white boys and girls operate in this language together.

"This language which is wholly false, which is this Jamaican patois that has been intruded in England and that is why so many of us have this sense of literally of a foreign country." said Mr. Starkey.

David Starkey is a British constitutional historian, and a radio and television presenter. His acerbic tongue earned him the sobriquet of "rudest man in Britain". He was appointed CBE in 2007, and lives with his long-time partner, James Brown, in the south of England. (wikipedia)

Tottenham Riot - 6 to 10 August 2011

A peaceful march on 6 August 2011 in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan by Metropolitan Police Service firearms officers on 4 August 2011, caused 120 people had marched from Broadwater Farm to Tottenham police station, in protest over the shooting of Mark Duggan, 29.

Others later became involved and rioting ensued on London's streets. Officers later fought disturbances in Manchester and Birmingham, Gloucester, involving hundreds of youths who looted and set fire to shops and smashed store windows.

Broadwater Farm Riot

Riots between Tottenham and police is nothing new in London. The Broadwater Farm riot occurred around the Broadwater Farm area on 6 October 1985 following the death of an African-Caribbean 49-year-old Cynthia Jarrett in a police search of her home. According to David Lammy MP, Tottenham has the highest unemployment rate in London.