U.K. emergency panel held after days of far-right violence following stabbing rampage
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer held an urgent meeting on Monday with ministers and top law enforcement officials as he seeks to end days of street violence and attacks on hotels housing asylum seekers, which he has described as "thuggery." Starmer said the group agreed to create a "standing army" of specialist officers to intervene where necessary, and he said that criminal law should apply to those agitating online as well as offline.
Over the past six days, right-wing activists used social media to spread misinformation and 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 Muslim and an immigrant, leading to attacks on immigrants and Muslims. The actual suspect, a 17-year-old who was born in the U.K., has been charged with three counts of murder and ten counts of attemtped murder.
On Sunday, angry mobs attacked two hotels used to house asylum seekers, breaking windows and lighting fires before police dispersed the crowds and residents were evacuated.
"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 U.K. 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.
In a statement on Sunday, Starmer said the authorities would "do whatever it takes to bring these thugs to justice."
"I guarantee you will regret taking part in this disorder, whether directly or those whipping up this action online and then running away themselves," Starmer said. "This is not a protest. It is organized, violent thuggery and it has no place on our streets or online."