Starmer meets police as far-right violence spikes after Southport stabbing
Al Jazeera
PM to offer ‘full backing’ to police chiefs as far-right activists attempt to stoke anger against Muslims and immigrants.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has convened police leaders for an emergency meeting following a second night of violent far-right protests after a stabbing spree in the town of Southport earlier in the week.
Starmer called the meeting at Downing Street on Thursday to demonstrate the government’s “full backing” for police amid “multiple high-profile incidents of extreme violence and public disorder on our streets”, said an official statement.
The Prime Minister’s Office said Starmer would tell police leaders that “while the right to peaceful protest must be protected at all costs”, he would make it clear that criminals exploiting that right to “sow hatred” and carry out violent acts would “face the full force of the law”.
The country is reeling since the stabbing on Monday at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the English seaside town of Southport, which killed three girls – Bebe King, six; Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven; and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine. Eight other children and two adults were also wounded.
The 17-year-old suspect, named as Axel Rudakubana, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday, facing three counts of murder and 10 of attempted murder following the killings.
