Starmer 'not going on holiday' as Britain gripped by fourth day of violence and migrant hotel smashed by yobs
4 August 2024, 16:00 | Updated: 5 August 2024, 08:10
Downing Street have said that Prime Minister Keir Starmer will not go on holiday on Monday as riots grip Britain for the fourth day in a row.
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Sources from within No.10 told the Sunday Telegraph that the PM will be working from Downing Street as he faces his young government's biggest test one-month since their election win.
Sir Keir is also facing calls from senior politicians to recall Parliament in order to deal with the 'far-right' demos and riots that have taken hold in Britain in reaction to the killings of three young girls in Southport on July 29.
Starmer was last seen at a press conference about the violence in Downing Street on August 1 - and has faced criticism for his response to the growing crisis.
Read More: 'Keir has to have family time': Labour MP defends Starmer for holiday plan as riots rage across UK
On Sunday, horrific scenes in Rotherham saw thugs break a window at a hotel which was housing asylum seekers and start a fire outside as police were forced to back off.
The masked anti-immigration protesters were filmed setting fire to a bin just outside the smashed window. Police later seemed to have pushed back the rioters, but the fire continued to rage for some time.
Others simply stood around and watched, or filmed the scenes for social media. Chants in support of Tommy Robinson, the far-right activist, were heard.
Some balaclava-clad demonstrators were earlier seen hurling objects at police at the Holiday Inn in the south Yorkshire city. At least one officer was carried away injured.
Counter-protesters also turned out at the scene to oppose the right-wing activists. It is how many people were being housed in the hotel.
IHG, which owns the Holiday Inn, said: "The safety and security of our guests and colleagues is always our priority."
A separate protest in Bolton broke out into violence on Sunday afternoon, and police imposed a dispersal order.
'Many more' arrests needed after riots, crime and policing minister says
Dame Diana Johnson, Labour's policing and crime minister, told LBC's Lewis Goodall that more people "will be brought to book" for the violence of the past few days.
Rioters have wreaked havoc in several towns and cities since the killing of three girls in Southport on Monday, with false rumours spreading that the suspect was a Muslim asylum seeker.
More than 200 people have been arrested amid the disorder but Johnson said that police have told the government they have what they need to hold all the wrongdoers to account.
She said: "I think you only have to scroll through social media to see the number of posts... and I was looking particularly obviously at my own home city [Hull], people who were looting last night in the city centre in shops, clearly visible, you can see their faces.
"So the job of work then for the police is to identify who those individuals are. And I'm told, many of them are known to the police, because they are criminals. They are people engaging in criminal activity.
"So they they will be brought to book - they will have a knock on their door, they will be arrested and brought to book for those actions".
Johnson confirmed there were prison places for the growing number of rioters arrested, despite concerns about capacity that saw many inmates released early.
"Yes, there are there are places available if when people are arrested, if they need to be remanded into custody, which is already happening, and I hope we'll we'll start to see increasing numbers of that," she said.
