UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with ministers and police chiefs on Monday in an emergency meeting aimed at finding a way to quell the unrest that has swept across various English cities this past week. Vowing to impose "swift criminal sanctions", he said a standing army would be deployed to support local riot forces. The anti-immigration protests first broke out in Southport, where three young girls were killed in a knife attack, after false rumours spread that the perpetrator was an asylum seeker.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday vowed "swift criminal sanctions" against far-right riots in several cities that have seen widespread damage and nearly 400 arrests.
Starmer convened ministers and police chiefs to discuss the unrest that broke out last Tuesday in Southport, northwest England, following a stabbing spree in which three children were killed.
Mobs threw bricks and flares, attacked police, burnt and looted shops, smashed the windows of cars and homes and targeted at least two hotels housing asylum-seekers in a number of cities at the weekend.
The government will "ramp up criminal justice" to ensure that "sanctions are swift", Starmer told the media after Monday's meeting.
He said a "standing army" of specially-trained police was ready to be deployed to support local forces where any further riots break out.
"My focus is on making sure that we stop this disorder," he added.
The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) said 378 people had so far been arrested, and that others would be "brought to justice".
"I want to reassure the public that a united and robust policing response is in place across the country and we are doing all we can to tackle this disorder," Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, NPCC chair, added.
Online warning
Clashes erupted in Southport a day after three young girls were killed and five more children critically injured during a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
False rumours initially spread on social media saying the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker. The suspect was later identified as a 17-year-old born in Wales. UK media reported he has Rwandan parents.
However, that has not stopped mosques from being targeted.
Arrests have been made nationwide as anti-immigration demonstrators and rioters face-off against police and counter-protestors, including groups of Muslims.
The prime minister on Sunday warned rioters they would "regret" participating in England's worst disorder in 13 years. Interior minister Yvette Cooper told the BBC on Monday that "there will be a reckoning".
Cooper also said that social media put a "rocket booster" under the violence, and Starmer stressed that "criminal law applies online as well as offline".
Police have blamed the violence on people associated with the now-defunct English Defence League, an anti-Islam organisation founded 15 years ago whose supporters have been linked to football hooliganism.
In some of the worst scenes on Sunday, masked rioters in Rotherham, northern England, smashed windows at a hotel that has been used to house asylum seekers.
At least 12 officers were injured, including one who was knocked unconscious, as they battled around 500 protesters with "far-right and anti-immigration views", South Yorkshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Lindsey Butterfield told media.
Nationwide violence
There were also disturbances in Bolton, northwest England, and Middlesbrough, northeast England, where mobs smashed windows of houses and cars, leading to 43 arrests.
Protesters there seized and broke a camera from an AFP crew. The journalists were not injured.
Staffordshire police said another hotel used for asylum seekers was targeted near Birmingham.
The violence is a major challenge for Starmer who led his Labour party to a landslide win over the Conservatives.
MPs from all sides have urged Starmer to recall parliament from its summer holiday to discuss the worst violence England has seen since 2011, when riots followed the police killing of a mixed-race man in London.
Read more'Southport was just the spark': UK hit by unrest as far-right exploits knife attack tragedy
Authorities have said the initial violence was partly caused by false rumours about suspect Axel Rudakubana, who is accused of killing a six, seven, and nine-year-old, and injuring another 10 people.
With the attacks on mosques, the government is offering new emergency security to Islamic places of worship.
The rallies have been advertised on far-right social media channels under the banner "Enough is enough".
Participants have waved English and British flags while chanting slogans like "Stop the boats" – a reference to irregular migrants crossing the Channel to Britain from France.
Anti-fascist demonstrators have held counter-rallies in many cities.
At last month's election, the Reform UK party led by Brexit cheerleader Nigel Farage captured 14 percent of the vote – one of the largest shares for a hard-right British party.
(AFP)
