Downing Street has confirmed that an emergency Cobra meeting will be held on Monday after more than 150 people were arrested following violent incidents in UK towns and cities over the weekend.
The meeting comes in response to attacks, including one on a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham, which Sir Keir Starmer condemned, vowing that those responsible for the unrest would face “the full force of the law.”
Police were deployed to address violent disturbances in Rotherham, Middlesbrough, Bolton, and other areas on Sunday.
The meeting will follow a sixth day of escalating violence, which began after the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport last week.
The Cobra meeting, which includes ministers, civil servants, police, intelligence officers, and other relevant officials, aims to update the government on the weekend’s violence and plan the response for the coming days.
This meeting follows previous discussions, including one between the prime minister and police chiefs last Thursday and a senior ministers’ meeting on Saturday.
In his televised address on Sunday, the prime minister warned that those involved in the violence would “regret” their actions.
“People in this country have a right to be safe, and yet we’ve seen Muslim communities targeted, attacks on mosques,” the prime minister said.
“Other minority communities singled out, Nazi salutes in the street, attacks on the police, wanton violence alongside racist rhetoric, so no, I won’t shy away from calling it what it is: far-right thuggery.”
In a statement, the Home Office announced new protections for mosques, including a process for requesting “rapid security” deployment to ensure a quick return to worship.
In Rotherham, anti-immigration protesters injured at least ten police officers, with one officer left unconscious after being hit with planks of wood and sprayed with fire extinguishers, according to South Yorkshire Police. Protesters also damaged a Holiday Inn Express, set a large bin on fire, and some officers sustained suspected broken bones. Despite the terror experienced by hotel employees and residents, including asylum seekers, no injuries were reported among them.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper condemned the violence as “utterly appalling” and assured that police have the government’s full support to take “the strongest action.”
In Tamworth, Staffordshire, police faced “violent acts of thuggery” on Sunday evening, with one officer injured as missiles were thrown, windows were smashed, and fires were started. In Middlesbrough, rioters broke windows and threw objects at officers.
In Dorset, around 600 people from opposing sides clashed on the Weymouth seafront, resulting in a few minor incidents and one arrest for a public order offence.
In Bolton, anti-immigration protesters were met by a group of up to 300 masked individuals shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest”), prompting Greater Manchester Police to issue a Section 60AA order requiring the removal of face coverings used to conceal identity.
The unrest follows similar violence earlier in the week in Southport, Belfast, Hartlepool, Hull, Liverpool, Stoke-on-Trent, Nottingham, Sunderland, and other locations.
Sir Keir Starmer suggested that the response to the current violence might include strategies similar to those used during the 2011 riots, when he was director of public prosecutions.
“We do have standing arrangements for law enforcement which means that we can get arrests… and convictions done very quickly,” he said.
“I myself was part of that in 2011 when I was director of public prosecutions, and I’m determined we will do whatever it takes to bring these thugs to justice as quickly as possible.”
Ministers have proposed that courts might operate 24 hours a day to expedite prosecutions, similar to measures taken in 2011.
Meanwhile, police forces are preparing to deploy additional officers to address any potential unrest.
