UK riots: Sir Keir Starmer to chair another emergency COBRA meeting as violent unrest continues
Sir Keir Starmer will chair another emergency COBRA meeting this evening to discuss continued action to tackle the ongoing riots, Sky News understands.
The committee will be attended by relevant ministers and police chiefs, ahead of what is expected to be a “big day” of disorder on Wednesday.
UK Riots: ‘Big day’ tomorrow as 30 rallies on police radar and lawyers’ offices threatened
Police sources have told Sky News they are aware of 30 planned gatherings, which could include lawyers’ offices potentially being targeted.
Some 30% of trained riot police are mobilised (6,000 officers), with sources saying they are better prepared than when the violence broke out last week, after three children were killed in a mass stabbing in Southport.
False rumours circulating online about the suspect, Axel Rudakubana, being an asylum seeker appear to have fuelled the unrest.
Sir Keir held the inaugural COBRA meeting of his premiership on Monday, as the new government grapples with its first major crisis.
COBRA – which stands for Cabinet Office Briefing Room A – is often called in times of emergency, like civil unrest or flooding.
After the first meeting, the prime minister said a “standing army” of specialist police officers is being assembled to crack down on rioting and called for perpetrators to be named and shamed.
The government has also brought forward plans to make more than 500 new prison places available to deal with people arrested over the past week, while justice minister Heidi Alexander told broadcasters on Tuesday morning that courts “could possibly” begin sitting “through the evening, the night, at weekends” in order to prosecute rioters swiftly.
The violence continued for a seventh night on Monday when police officers were injured in Plymouth.
Devon and Cornwall Police said six arrests were made after “several officers” suffered minor injuries and two members of the public were taken to hospital.
Trouble centred on a crowd of anti-immigration protesters who attempted for several hours to confront a Stand Up To Racism counter-rally.
Bricks and fireworks were launched towards officers who had attempted to keep the rival demonstrations apart, with Inspector Ryan North Moore telling Sky News at the scene: “This is not a protest anymore. In my opinion, this is violence. This is sustained violence.”
Asked how difficult it was to police the protest, he added: “It’s off the scale today. With the resources we’ve got, it’s difficult.”
‘Worst violence should be treated as terrorism’
Police chiefs believe there will be another day or two of disorder, but that they have seen the worst of it – though they are ready if unrest escalates.
Around 100 people have already been charged in connection with the violence of the past week, according to the Crown Prosecution Service, while more than 400 people had already been arrested.
Neil Basu, Britain’s former head of counter-terrorism, said the worst of the far-right violence should be treated as such, as a warning to people looking to get involved in the riots.
He told Sky News that actions like trying to set mosques on fire with worshippers inside “very clearly have crossed the Rubicon into terrorist offences”.
He said: “It’s very difficult to prove ideological intent when you’re talking about terrorism, but I think it should be a warning to people who want to get involved in these offences that they are. This is becoming a national security issue.”
Mr Basu also called for more action against social media companies, amid concern they are not doing enough to remove disinformation.
Technology Secretary Peter Kyle met with the bosses of TikTok, Meta, Google and X on Monday evening “to make clear their responsibility to continue to work with us to stop the spread of hateful misinformation and incitement”.
However, an escalating spat between Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, and Downing Street, could put efforts to crack down on harmful online content at risk.