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Police brace for further riots this weekend after Southport stabbings, despite warnings of 'swift justice'
2 August 2024, 13:46 | Updated: 2 August 2024, 17:53
Police are preparing for more violent disorder on Friday night and over the weekend, despite warnings by Keir Starmer and ministers that offenders will face prosecution.
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Police said publicly that they were aware of planned protests in several cities across the UK, with adverts also posted on social media.
Fears are also growing that mosques could be targeted by far-right activists. Hundreds of mosques across the country will be strengthening security this weekend, the Muslim Council of Britain said.
Officers have vowed to step up their capabilities over the weekend, with the government pledging to crack down on criminals and put extra prosecutors on standby.
Meanwhile counter-protests are also being planned in several cities.
Read more: Boy, 11, arrested on suspicion of arson after police car set ablaze in Hartlepool riot
Southport - More protests planned as PM launches national response to disorder
Over 100 people were arrested in protests in Southport, London, Hartlepool and Manchester on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Police are also hunting for protesters who hurled racist abuse and hurled objects at a migrant hotel in Aldershot, in Hampshire on Wednesday night.
The riots spread after misinformation spread online - possibly sparked by Russian trolls - that the suspect in the killing was a Muslim asylum seeker.
Axel Rudakubana, the 17-year-old charged with the murders, was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents.
Dozens of police officers were injured in Southport, and police cars were set on fire there and in London.
Keir Starmer said on Thursday that he was launching a special unit to tackle the violent disorder, that would share information across forces and use facial recognition software to identify criminals.
Meanwhile Gavin Stephens, the chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said prosecutors would be on standby to deliver "swift justice" to rioters.
He said: "We agreed as police chiefs to step up our resourcing over the weekend so we will have surge capacity in our intelligence, in our briefing and in the resource that is out in local communities.
"It was really good that we were able to agree also yesterday with the support from our justice partners that there will be additional prosecutors available to make swift decisions, so we have swift justice."
Home Office minster on Southport protests: 'Some may be caught up in the summer madness'
On Friday, Home Office minister Lord Hanson told LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast that the authorities were watching anyone planning more disorder, as he warned that "summer madness" could continue this weekend.
The government minister said that the people rioting were not all of the far-right, and that some people were simply caught up in the disorder.
Lord Hanson added that the government had no problem with people organising peaceful protests, but that when they veered into violence it became unacceptable.
The Labour peer said: "I always say to anybody who is organising this, we will be watching you. If you are organising this now, we will be watching you.
"We have powers under existing legislation to stop you organising this now and to take action accordingly.
"And if you do take action and are not part of any organised group, be prepared to face the full force of the law on this criminal activity".
Speaking to LBC's Tom Swarbrick, Brian Booth, Acting Deputy National Chair of the Police Federation, welcomed Keir Starmer's call for social media giants to do more to stop the far right from organising.
He said: "Social media is a new element of policing and we've got to adapt effectively.
"It was interesting to see Keir Starmer come out and say social media giants, you make the profits but you're the ones that actually can influence communities and you have a part to play in society like we all do.
"I would welcome more government laws to look at for when social media platforms don't get a grip of their platforms."
He also confirmed police will be ready for any riots that do erupt over the weekend.
He said: "I think you can see from the lead from the government that the police are gearing up very much for this weekend. There will be sufficient resources to manage all these incidents that are going to be taking place around the country.
"The officers are very well trained, they will be well equipped and I just hope that the public are starting to listen to what's been happening in the mainstream media and the help stations like yourselves have been doing to try and alleviate some of these tensions and hopefully the general public will stay at home."
The riots came after three girls - Bebe King, six; Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven; and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine - were stabbed to death at a Taylor Swift dance class in Southport, near Liverpool.
Several other children and adults were also hurt in the attack, with some still fighting for life in hospital.
Keir Starmer condemned the rioters on Thursday and announced a new national violent disorder unit to tackle the protests.
Lord Hanson told Nick that police would "retrospectively look at the information from Southport from all the shots and other areas and use facial recognition technology photo evidence and other evidence on an intelligence basis to bring prosecutions."
He added: "We want to also send a signal. So those people who are potentially undertaking conspiracy that they know that we will use intelligence led policing, we will use all the tools available to make sure that we prevent this activity if at all possible.
"And if it does happen, that they need to know they will face the full force of the law.
"This is not about peaceful protests, it's about criminal activity..."
Asked if everyone taking part in the riots subscribed to a far-right ideology, Lord Hanson demurred.
He said: "Some individuals will have far right opinions in my view, some might be caught up in the in the summer madness, some might be people who've got genuine concerns.
"Whatever those concerns are, there are mechanisms where they can raise them with their member of parliament, they can peacefully protest, and they can take those issues forward."
Asked if the protests could continue throughout the rest of summer, he said: "Summer is always a difficult time, it's hot weather. People are out late at night, and those issues are of concern.
"But the key message I want to put to people is simply this if you're thinking of taking action along the lines that happened in Southport this week, do not do it because you will face the full force of the law through the police and through the courts in due course."
"What we have to do is to prevent criminal activity, it is not acceptable for more than 50 police officers to be injured for innocent people's property to be broken, and for intimidation to take place. And if that happens, we will take action on it."
