Prime Minister will offer ‘full support’ to police chiefs as far-right activists try to stoke anger against Muslims and immigrants.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called police leaders to an emergency meeting following a second night of violent far-right protests following a spate of stabbings in the town of Southport earlier in the week.
Starmer called the Downing Street meeting on Thursday to demonstrate the government’s “full support” for the police amid “multiple incidents of extreme violence and public disorder on our streets”, an official statement said.
The Prime Minister’s Office said Starmer would tell police leaders that “while the right to peaceful protest must be protected at all costs”, he would make clear that criminals who exploit this right to “sow hatred” and carry out violent acts “would face the full force of the law.”
The country has been in crisis since Monday’s stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the English seaside town of Southport, which killed three girls – Bebe King, six; Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven; and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine. Eight other children and two adults were also injured.
The 17-year-old suspect, named Axel Rudakubana, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday facing three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder following the murders.
Before his court appearance, the suspect’s identity had been withheld due to his age, but Liverpool judge Andrew Menary allowed the details to be released, justifying the decision with the fact that he turns 18 next week.
Although little was previously known about the suspect other than that he was born in Britain, the stabbing was used by far-right activists who spread disinformation online to stoke anger against immigrants and Muslims.
Far-right-led protests on Wednesday night took place in three cities – London, Hartlepool and Manchester.
In London, crowds gathered outside Starmer’s official residence, 10 Downing Street, London, throwing beer cans and bottles and shouting “Shame on you”, throwing flares at a nearby statue of the wartime leader and former Prime Minister. -Minister Winston Churchill. More than 100 people were arrested.
In Hartlepool, protesters set fire to police cars and threw bottles and eggs at officers, with police saying eight arrests were made.
A minor disturbance was reported in Manchester.
The night before, more than 50 police officers were injured in violent clashes in Southport, in which bricks were thrown at a mosque and rubbish bins and vehicles were set on fire, hours after a peaceful vigil for the stabbing victims. Fifty-three police officers were injured.
Police blamed members of the far-right group the English Defense League, an Islamophobic organization founded 15 years ago whose supporters have been linked to football hooliganism.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
