Southport protests: Starmer backs police to ‘keep streets safe’ from ‘thugs’ who ‘sow hate’
Sir Keir Starmer has told the police they have ministers' full backing to take "all necessary action to keep our streets safe" from "thugs" who "sow hate" as violent protests erupted across the UK following the stabbing of three girls in Southport.
A Downing Street spokesperson said the prime minister had met senior ministers including the deputy prime minister, home secretary, justice secretary and the policing minister to discuss the public disorder and unrest seen in towns and cities in recent days. After thanking police who responded to the violence in Sunderland on Friday night, which saw four officers injured, Sir Keir said officers "have our full support to take action against extremists on our streets who are attacking police officers, disrupting local businesses and attempting to sow hate by intimidating communities. "The right to freedom of expression and the violent disorder we have seen are two very different things," he said, adding that "there is no excuse for violence of any kind".
Sir Keir reiterated that the government backed the police to take "all necessary action to keep our streets safe". Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said those engaging in violent disorder "will pay the price", telling broadcasters "criminal violence and disorder has no place on Britain's streets". Ms Cooper said: "We've been clear to the police that they have our full backing in taking the strongest possible action against perpetrators, including making sure that there are more prosecutors, there are sufficient prison places and also that the courts stand ready because anyone who engages in this kind of disorder needs to be clear that they will pay the price."
She promised to work with forces to help ensure "consequences, arrests and prosecutions" for those responsible. Asked whether she had considered recalling parliament, as Dame Priti Patel has urged, she said she had been "talking to MPs across the country" and would continue to do so. Sky's political correspondent Rob Powell said Number 10 wants anyone taking part in disorder to understand they will face "swift action" and "the full force of the law".
Police treated for suspected broken jaw and broken nose Two police officers have been taken to hospital in Liverpool with a suspected broken jaw and a suspected broken nose as officers in the city were met with "shameful levels of violence", Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims said. A number of people set off fire extinguishers and threw "various items including bricks and bottles at officers", Merseyside Police said.
"An officer on a police motorbike was pushed from his bike and assaulted," she said. There have been reports of "families having to run away from the area", Ms Sims said. Six people, aged between 29 and 58, have been arrested on suspicion of offences including violent disorder and criminal damage.
Bottles, chairs and bricks thrown at officers Bricks, bottles and a flare were also thrown at officers as they lined The Strand in the city centre. Another officer was kicked and knocked off his motorcycle by a demonstrator and others tried to kick riot shields.
A policewoman was hit by a chair and was led off by other officers, Sky's north of England correspondent Charlotte Leeming said. Fighting at close quarters Protesters threw bottles, chairs and bricks at police during clashes in other towns and cities in England and Northern Ireland on Saturday.
In Bristol, approximately 100 protesters were outnumbered around four to one by counter-protesters who chanted anti-fascist slogans, Sky correspondent Tom Cheshire said, as "huge numbers" of police struggled to keep them apart. The rival factions moved out of Castle Park, where they had gathered, "spilling out on to the streets of Bristol", at around 7.30pm. Cheshire said: "We saw multiple charges [of] police horses, we saw fights at close quarters between right-wing protestors and counter-protestors."
The two sides were as little as 10ft apart at times, and missiles were thrown and police detained people, he added. Officers have asked people to avoid the area. Disorder in Nottingham, Leeds and Blackpool
At least three people were arrested in Nottingham as scuffles broke out as opposing groups who faced each other in the city's Market Square. Bottles and other items were thrown from both sides, and chants of "England till I die" and "Tommy Robinson" were drowned out by boos from counter-protesters. In Leeds, around 150 people carrying St George flags shouting "You're not English any more" and "Paedo Muslims off our street" were greatly outnumbered by hundreds of counter-protesters shouting "Nazi scum off our streets".
Skirmishes broke out between demonstrators and punks who had gathered for a convention, in Blackpool, with bottles and chairs being thrown. Rioters target asylum seekers' hotels In Hull, four people have been arrested as three officers were hurt during a protest in which a group of people targeted a hotel which houses asylum seekers.
Humberside Police Chief Superintendent Darren Wildbore said officers have "faced eggs and bottles being thrown" as windows were smashed at the hotel which has housed migrants. Four men were arrested after bricks were thrown at officers in Stoke-on-Trent and fireworks were thrown amid tense exchanges between an anti-Islamic group and an anti-racism rally in Belfast. Saturday's incidents followed violent protests earlier this week, which saw more than 100 people arrested outside Downing Street on Wednesday and 10 arrests in Sunderland on Friday night after a building next to a police station was set on fire and objects thrown at officers.
The widespread disorder follows a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class at a community centre in Southport on Monday, which left three girls dead. Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, died in the attack and other children and adults were injured. The assault was followed by a wave of online misinformation about the background of the suspect, Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, from Lancashire.
False claims included that the 17-year-old, who was born in Cardiff, was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat.
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