Over the weekend, Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the riots as “far-right thuggery” and vowed to “ramp up” the law to deal with the violence…reports Asian Lite News
The wave of violent unrest and across parts of the UK continued as police came under attack in Belfast, Darlington and Plymouth. Police believe the riots and unrest in towns and cities across the UK were fuelled by false rumours that the suspect was a Muslim asylum seeker.
Over the weekend, Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the riots as “far-right thuggery” and on Monday he vowed to “ramp up” the law to deal with the violence. Despite his calls for calm, the violence spread to Plymouth.
In Birmingham, there were disturbances after hundreds of people gathered in the Bordesley Green area of the city following false reports that a far-right march had been planned there. Palestinian flags were waved and anti-English Defence League chants were heard.
A group of youths later broke away from the gathering and attacked several vehicles and a pub. West Midlands Police released a statement late on Monday which said officers were investigating reports of an assault and damage to a pub.
The force said no arrests had been made “at this stage but there were sporadic incidents and we are investigating reports of an assault” as well as incidents of criminal damage.
Assistant Chief Constable Richie Allen said: “What we have been dealing with tonight in Darlington has been sporadic pockets of violent disorder involving groups of people intent on causing serious harm to our communities and their property. We deployed a number of officers to the scene who worked throughout the night to disperse those involved.”
A total of 378 arrests have so far been made nationally since the rioting began on Tuesday, according to the National Police Chiefs’ Council. Police said they are working “around the clock” to identify and arrest more people.
After chairing an emergency Cobra meeting of ministers and senior police chiefs, Starmer announced a “standing army” of specialist officers to tackle the disorder. A Downing Street spokesperson said later there were no plans for the military to be involved. The government was working with social media companies to ensure misinformation and disinformation is removed, the spokesperson said.
But, the prime minister rejected calls for Parliament to be recalled from its summer recess in the face of the riots. The Northern Ireland Assembly has been recalled to Stormont early following violent protests in Belfast last weekend.
Starmer said: “My focus is on making sure that we stop this disorder, that the criminal sanctions are swift and be seen to be followed.”
Downing Street also criticised X owner Elon Musk for claiming “civil war is inevitable” in the UK, with officials suggesting online misinformation fuelling disorder on Britain’s streets might be amplified by foreign state actors. Starmer posted a video on X saying the unrest “is not protest, it is pure violence”. He added: “We will not tolerate attacks on mosques or on Muslim communities.” Musk replied: “Shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on *all* communities?”
Meanwhile, home secretary pointed to Islamophobia for the first time as a motivation for far-right violence in several cities that has seen widespread damage and nearly 400 arrests.
Yvette Cooper was appearing on ITV’s morning television show “This Morning” and was asked why the Labour government had not used the term when talking about the violence, which broke out on Tuesday following a stabbing in which three children were killed.
“You’re right that there has been a range of different things driving this, including far-right extremism,” Cooper told the program.
“We have certainly seen some targeted attacks on mosques, and that clearly reflects Islamophobia, and people shouldn’t be targeted for their faith or for the color of their skin. We’ve also seen some looting, some response of local criminals just getting involved at the periphery on streets as well. None of these people speak for Britain,” she added.
Cooper’s department, the Home Office, said over the weekend it would deploy extra police and security for mosques under new emergency measures, The Telegraph reported. A suspended Labour MP, Zarah Sultana, also appeared on “This Morning” and pushed the government to do more to call out hatred against Muslims.
“This question about naming it as Islamophobia is really important, because that allows us to shape our response,” she said.
“If we’re not identifying what is happening, the language that is being used and what this is about, we’re not going to be able to address this fundamentally,” she added.
Also on Monday, the head of Amnesty International UK said the government must get serious about tackling the “root cause of racism that plagues” British society.
“The widespread violence and hate crimes we’ve witnessed over the last few days are utterly unacceptable,” Sacha Deshmukh said.
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