British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has created a new violent disorder unit as he vowed to “take every step possible” to keep the Muslim community safe following days of riots.
He called an emergency meeting of all police chiefs on Thursday after disinformation online about the identify of the person alleged to be responsible for killing three children led to hundreds of far-right protesters attacking mosques and rioting across the country.
Protests which began in Southport on Tuesday with 300 rioters throwing bricks at the police, injuring more than 50 of them, and setting fires outside a mosque, swiftly spread to Hartlepool and Manchester and last night finally to the doors of the prime minister’s residence in London.
On Thursday, Mr Starmer vowed to create a new unit to tackle mob violence and vowed to crack down on the far right and protect the Muslim community.
“For the Muslim community I will take every step possible to keep you safe,” he said.
“Mosques being attacked because they’re mosques – the far right are showing who they are. We have to show who we are in response to that.
"The far right's conduct is co-ordinated and deliberate. It is a group absolutely bent on violence and we will ensure it is met with the most robust response in the next few days and weeks.
-
Protesters scuffle with police during the "Enough is Enough" protest in Whitehall, London, following the fatal stabbing of three children at a Taylor Swift-themed summer holiday dance and yoga class on Monday in Southport, Merseyside. AP -
More than 100 people have been arrested in London as further protests took place across the country in the wake of the Southport stabbings. PA -
Police officers clash with protesters in Whitehall, London. AP -
A flare is lit during the protest in London. PA -
A protester shouts at police officers in London. PA -
A police car burns as officers are deployed on the streets of Hartlepool following a violent protest. PA -
A police car burns in Hartlepool. PA -
Officers in riot gear pass a burnt-out car in Hartlepool. PA
“It is not protesting, it is not legitimate, it is crime. We will put a stop to it.”
He told police chiefs the government will make sure they have “got the powers they need” to tackle the rioters.
More than 100 people were arrested on Wednesday night after rioting in London.
Protesters in Whitehall launched rocks and glass bottles at police and threw flares at the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square.
Demonstrators wearing England flags and waving banners saying “enough is enough” and “stop the boats” had congregated outside Downing Street in the wake of the killing of three young girls in the Southport knife attack, which social media posts had wrongly claimed was carried out by a Muslim asylum seeker who crossed the Channel in a small boat.
The angry scenes also included loud chants of: “We want our country back” and: “Oh Tommy Robinson”, referring to the right-wing activist. One man wore a shirt with the slogan: “Nigel Farage for Prime Minister, Tommy Robinson for Home Secretary”.
Confrontations continued late into the night in Hartlepool, where demonstrators set fire to a police car and pelted officers with missiles, including glass bottles.
Police in Manchester confronted another demonstration outside a hotel.
The meeting in Downing Street came after a 17-year-old charged with the murder of three girls in the knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class appeared at Liverpool Crown Court and was named as Axel Rudakubana, from Banks in Lancashire.
He is charged with the murder of Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, in Southport on Monday.
He is also charged with the attempted murder of yoga class instructor Leanne Lucas, businessman John Hayes and eight children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, as well as with possession of a kitchen knife with a curved blade.
