UK’s Keir Starmer announces ‘swift criminal sanctions’ for rioters

LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed on Monday (5 August) to take “swift punitive action” following an emergency meeting on the far-right riots that broke out across England last week following the murders of three children.

The Prime Minister met with ministers and police chiefs, including Scotland Yard chief Mark Rowley, to discuss ways to quell the violence that first broke out in Southport, in north-west England, on Tuesday.

Over the weekend, several police officers were injured and dozens of people were arrested when a mob throwing bricks and flares clashed with officers, set fires and looted shops and smashed windows of cars and homes.

As part of a “range of actions” expected to emerge from Monday’s meeting, the government will “step up the criminal justice system” to ensure “sanctions are imposed swiftly”, Starmer told media.

He added that a “standing army” of specially trained police officers was ready to be deployed to support local forces if further unrest broke out.

“My goal is to make sure we can stop this disorder,” he added.

The riots in Southport came a day after a stabbing at a Taylor Swift-inspired dance class left three girls dead and five children seriously injured.

Initially false rumours circulated on social media that the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker, but police said the suspect was a 17-year-old born in Wales. British media reported that his parents were Rwandan.

However, this did not protect the mosques from attack.

Police have since arrested hundreds of people in cities across the country, with anti-immigration demonstrators and rioters facing off against police and counter-protesters, including Muslim groups.