Sir Keir Starmer condemned “far-right hatred” in the wake of the Southport stabbings as he announced a new “national” response to the violent disorder linking police forces across the country.
The Prime Minister said “thugs” involved in the scenes of unrest should not “pretend they are speaking” for the grieving families of the three young girls killed in the initial attack.
At a press conference following riots in which bricks were hurled at police officers and a local mosque targeted, Sir Keir warned: “The far right are showing who they are – we have to show who we are in response to that.”
In a televised address from Downing Street after the disorder in London, Hartlepool, Manchester and Southport, he announced a new “national capability” to tackle the disorder across police forces in England .
This will involve sharing intelligence, wider deployment of facial recognition technology and criminal behaviour orders to restrict the movement of those involved, Sir Keir said.
He said: “These thugs are mobile, they move from community to community.
“We must have a policing response that can do the same.”
The Prime Minister also sounded a note of caution to social media companies after misinformation spread online about the identity of the 17-year-old suspect, including false claims that he was an asylum seeker.
“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,” he said.
“That is the single most important duty of government, service rests on security. We will take all necessary action to keep our streets safe.”
Sir Keir, a former director of public prosecutions, also warned that speculating about the attack could risk prejudicing the active criminal proceedings against the suspect and impeding justice for the bereaved families.
Asked what his message was to Muslims who may be concerned after a mosque was targeted in the violence in Southport, 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.
“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.”
Let's be very clear about this. It's not protest. It's not legitimate. It's crime. Violent disorder.
Sir Keir Starmer
The press conference was held shortly after police chiefs from Scotland Yard, Merseyside and West Yorkshire were summoned to Downing Street for crisis talks with the PM and his ministers following the violence.
Sir Keir said the meeting was held to “pull together our response, response both to the immediate challenge which is clearly driven by far-right hatred, but also all violent disorder that flares up whatever the apparent cause or motivation”.
He hit out at a “gang of thugs” who descended on Southport to riot following the initial attack, saying that as a result the community had been forced to suffer twice.
“Let’s be very clear about this. It’s not protest. It’s not legitimate. It’s crime. Violent disorder. An assault on the rule of law and the execution of justice,” Sir Keir said.
In London on Wednesday, more than 100 people were arrested after protesters in Whitehall launched beer cans 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, with chants of: “We want our country back” and: “Oh Tommy Robinson.”
One man wore a shirt with the slogan: “Nigel Farage for Prime Minister, Tommy Robinson for Home Secretary.”
The Met arrested 111 people for alleged offences including violent disorder, assaults on police officers, possession of knives and offensive weapons and breach of protest conditions.
Confrontations continued late into the night in Hartlepool, where rioters set fire to a police car and pelted officers with missiles, including glass bottles.
Cleveland Police have so far made eight arrests, with more expected.
Police in Manchester confronted another demonstration outside the Holiday Inn on Oldham Road before dispersing the crowd after protesters started throwing beer bottles at officers and members of the public.
The string of violent incidents followed similar scenes in Southport on Tuesday, where demonstrators attacked police and set cars on fire.
Sir Keir said on Thursday: “I’ve just held a meeting with senior police and law enforcement leaders, where we resolved to show who we are.
“A country that will 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.”
It comes after the 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.
The defendant 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.
He was remanded to youth detention accommodation and will next appear in court in October.
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