British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says a “standing army” of specialist police would be set up as he promises “swift criminal sanctions” to check violent riots that have broken out in the country over the past week.
Starmer convened an emergency meeting on Monday with ministers and police chiefs, including Scotland Yard boss Mark Rowley, to discuss how to quell the violence that first broke out in Southport in northwest England on Tuesday.
He blamed the lawlessness on far-right activists and misinformation on social media that has whipped up anger over a stabbing attack at a dance class last week that killed three girls.
False rumours spread online that the suspect was a Muslim and an asylum-seeker, leading to attacks on immigrants and Muslims.
Police said the 17-year-old suspect was born in the United Kingdom and they are not treating the stabbings as a terrorist incident.
Starmer said a “standing army” of specially trained police officers was ready to be deployed to support local forces where any further riots break out.
“Whatever the apparent motivation, this is not protest. It is pure violence, and we will not tolerate attacks on mosques or our Muslim communities,” Starmer said.
“The full force of the law will be visited on all those who are identified as having taken part in these activities.”
On Sunday, angry mobs attacked two hotels used to house asylum seekers, breaking windows and lighting fires before police dispersed the crowds and residents were evacuated.
Dozens of police officers have been hospitalised for injuries in the past six days after being struck with bricks, bottles and large wooden posts.
Oliver Coppard, the mayor of South Yorkshire, where one of the hotels was attacked, attributed the violence to “far-right thugs”.
“As Keir said, as every decent person has said, I think these are far-right thugs who attacked some of the most vulnerable people in our communities, and there is absolutely no excuse,” Coppard told the BBC.
“There can never be any excuse for trying to burn to death 200 of the most vulnerable people in our community.”
A Starmer spokesperson said no requests have been made to call in the army.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper promised a reckoning to those involved, saying the government would back punishments ranging from jail sentences to travel bans. Police have arrested about 420 people.
The Home Office, which is responsible for law and order, has offered mosques greater protection under a new “rapid response process” designed to quickly tackle the threat of further attacks on places of worship.
Starmer’s spokesperson said after Monday’s meeting that social media companies have not done enough to prevent the spread of misinformation that has fuelled far-right violence and promised that anyone who stokes the disorder – online or on the streets – could face prison.
Some of that false and misleading information has come from foreign states.
“The disinformation that we’ve seen online attracts amplification from known bot activity, which, as I say, can be linked to state-backed activity,” the spokesperson said in a read-out of the meeting.
