A “national capability” will be established to tackle violent disorder and rioters, Keir Starmer has announced, as he warned social media firms they had a responsibility to clamp down on misinformation.
Speaking after violent disorder followed the Southport stabbing attack, the prime minister said the initiative would “pull together” intelligence and action across the country’s police forces. This would range from “the immediate challenge, which is clearly driven by far-right hatred” and “all violent disorder” that flares, regardless of motivation.
Starmer appeared furious during a press conference on Thursday afternoon as he condemned the “tiny mindless minority in society … a gang of thugs [who] got on trains and buses, went to a community that is not their own, a community grieving the most horrific tragedy, and then proceeded to throw bricks at police officers – police officers who just 24 hours earlier had been having to deal with an attack on children in their community”.
He said the new plan was designed to show that Britain would “not allow understandable fear to curdle into division and hate in our communities and that will not permit, under any circumstances, a breakdown in law and order on our streets”. He added: “Let’s be very clear about this. It’s not protest. It’s not legitimate. It’s crime and violent disorder. An assault on the rule of law and the execution of justice.”
The “national capability” will aim to improve intelligence gathering and sharing on “extremist troublemakers” after police were surprised by the scale of disorder on Tuesday in Southport, with further unrest in London, Manchester, Hartlepool and Aldershot on Wednesday night.
The new initiative should identify agitators from all parts of the ideological spectrum, while enhancing the sharing of community tension indicators and the coordination of mutual aid, where specially riot-trained officers are rushed from one area to another, Starmer said.
The prime minister said there was “a balance to be struck” when it came to social media platforms’ efforts to tackle misinformation online, with discussion needed on whether they could face consequences if they failed to act.
“Let me also say to large social media companies and those who run them: violent disorder, clearly whipped up online, that is also a crime, it’s happening on your premises, and the law must be upheld everywhere.
“That is the single most important duty of government; service rests on security. We will take all necessary action to keep our streets safe.”
Starmer said “nobody but nobody” involved in the rioting or spread of misinformation should “pretend they are speaking” for the grieving families. “The far right are showing who they are – we have to show who we are in response to that,” he said.
Asked what his message was to Muslims who may be concerned after mosques were targeted, he said: “In relation to the Muslim community, let me be very clear: I will take every step that’s necessary to keep you safe.”
He held the press conference after meeting senior police chiefs, including the deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan police, Dame Lynne Owens; Serena Kennedy, the chief constable of Merseyside police; BJ Harrington of the National Police Chiefs’ Council; and Stephen Parkinson, the director of public prosecutions.
Starmer thanked police officers who “stood up to intimidation and violence”, adding: “I’m not going to pretend to you that they weren’t affected by what they had had to witness, what they’d had to deal with. They said to me, as they always do, I was simply doing my job, and of course, they were, but … there’s no way … what they had to endure … was anything other than extraordinarily challenging.”
It is hoped that increasing the number of specialist public order officers who can be rushed into an area of trouble will increase the number of arrests when violence breaks out.
The new officers will sit with the national police operations centre, which is part of the National Police Chiefs’ Council.
The plans were drafted by Downing Street, and a source said heads of police meeting Starmer in No 10 on Thursday were in broad agreement.
The financing and full details are yet to be ironed out. Consideration is to be given to the potential greater use of live facial recognition at places where disorder is expected or has broken out.
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