British Prime Minister Keir Starmer convened Monday an emergency meeting with ministers and top law enforcement officials to address the recent spate of street violence and attacks on hotels housing asylum seekers, which he has condemned as thuggery.
Lawlessness has swept the country over the past six days as right-wing activists used social media to spread misinformation to whip up anger over a stabbing rampage at a dance class that left three girls dead and many more wounded.
False rumors spread online that the suspect was a Muslim and an immigrant, leading to attacks on immigrants and Muslims.
During Monday’s meeting of the government’s emergency response committee, known as Cobra, police chiefs and government ministers were expected to develop a response to ensure there is no repeat of the violence.
“As Keir said, as every decent person has said, I think these are far-right thugs who attacked some of the most vulnerable people in our communities and there is absolutely no excuse,” Oliver Coppard, the mayor of South Yorkshire, told the BBC.
“There can never be any excuse for trying to burn to death 200 of the most vulnerable people in our community.”
The Home Office, which is responsible for law and order, has offered mosques greater protection under a new “rapid response process” designed to quickly tackle the threat of further attacks on places of worship.
Thuggery
Earlier Sunday, Starmer condemned what he described as “far-right thuggery” and said perpetrators would face the full force of the law.
His comment came after hundreds of anti-immigration protesters gathered by a hotel near Rotherham, northern England, which Britain’s Interior Minister said was housing asylum-seekers.
The protesters, many wearing masks or balaclavas, threw bricks at police and broke several hotel windows, a Reuters witness said, before setting a large bin close to the hotel on fire.
“I utterly condemn the far-right thuggery we’ve seen this weekend,” Starmer said in a statement, adding it was criminal violence and not legitimate protest.
“Be in no doubt, those that have participated in this violence will face the full force of the law.”
The National Police Chiefs’ Council said 147 people had been arrested since Saturday evening and more would follow in the coming days.
Starmer, who took office a month ago after his Labour Party won a decisive election victory over the long-ruling Conservatives, said residents were in “absolute fear” from the “marauding gangs” in Rotherham.
Local police said 10 officers were injured in Rotherham during confrontations with the crowd of 700 people, some of whom threw planks of wood and sprayed officers with fire extinguishers before smashing hotel windows.
One officer was knocked unconscious and others had suspected broken or fractured bones, police said.
