Racism? Poverty, drink and social media? We still don’t know why Britons rioted a month ago – and we need answers

In the weeks since the riots, a number of fairly firm narratives have become established. The first is that misinformation spread on social media was crucial in bringing people out on to the streets. Second, the anti-immigration rhetoric associated with the far right – and the “tough on immigration” messages now popular across the political spectrum – are assumed to have helped foment the violence. In short, the story goes that these were racist, Islamophobic, anti-migrant riots.