British PM says ‘standing army’ of police ready to deal with rioters
Al Jazeera
Keir Starmer says violent protesters who target Muslim communities would face ‘full force of the law’ as he blames misinformation for the riots.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says a “standing army” of specialist police would be set up as he promises “swift criminal sanctions” to check violent riots that have broken out in the country over the past week.
Starmer convened an emergency meeting on Monday with ministers and police chiefs, including Scotland Yard boss Mark Rowley, to discuss how to quell the violence that first broke out in Southport in northwest England on Tuesday.
He blamed the lawlessness on far-right activists and misinformation on social media that has whipped up anger over a stabbing attack at a dance class last week that killed three girls.
False rumours spread online that the suspect was a Muslim and an asylum-seeker, leading to attacks on immigrants and Muslims.
Police said the 17-year-old suspect was born in the United Kingdom and they are not treating the stabbings as a terrorist incident.
