KEIR Starmer has announced the Government will be expanding police and intelligence powers amid a series of far-right riots across England.
A riot in Southport took place on Tuesday evening following a vigil for three girls killed in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club.
Riots also took place in London, Hartlepool and Manchester on Wednesday evening, as more than 100 people were arrested after protesters in Whitehall launched beer cans and glass bottles at police.
In a statement on Thursday afternoon, the Prime Minister said the Government will be establishing a “national capability across police forces” to tackle violent disorder.
“These thugs are mobile – they move from community to community, and we must have a policing response that can do the same,” he said.
The expanded powers include shared intelligence between forces, a wider deployment of facial recognition technology and criminal behaviour orders to restrict people’s movements.
Starmer compared the measures to the way police deal with “football hooligans”.
He added that social media companies also have responsibility over the spread of misinformation online, after a false name was associated with the Southport attacker.
The misreporting fuelled anti-Muslim hate online and has been partly blamed for inciting the riots.
“Violent disorder whipped up online – that is also a crime,” Starmer said.
“It’s happening on your premises, and the law must be upheld everywhere.”
The statement comes after the Prime Minister held an emergency meeting with senior police chiefs in Downing Street earlier on Thursday.
In Scotland, counterprotests have been organised after far-right figures – including Tommy Robinson – endorsed a “pro-UK” demonstration in Glasgow on September 7.
We told how Susan Aitken, leader of Glasgow City Council, told Robinson and his “ilk” that they would not be welcome in the city.
