UK to hold emergency meeting as far-right violence escalates
The British government is set to hold a Cobra emergency response meeting after far-right violence spreads in towns and cities across the UK.
The meeting, scheduled for Monday, comes after UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer decried as “far-right thuggery" an attack on a Holiday Inn Express hotel being used as accommodation for asylum seekers on Sunday.
He vowed that the authorities will “do whatever it takes to bring these thugs to justice" as more than 150 people were arrested over the weekend when police responded to violent scenes in Rotherham, Middlesbrough, Bolton and other parts of the UK on Sunday.
“I guarantee you will regret taking part in this disorder, whether directly or those whipping up this action online and then running away themselves," he said. "This is not a protest, it is organized, violent thuggery and it has no place on our streets or online.”
The violence broke out in several towns and cities across the UK in the wake of a deadly stabbing attack that killed three young girls and wounded many more in Southport, near Liverpool on England’s northwest coast, last Monday.
The police identified the suspect as Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, 17, born in Cardiff, Wales, who lived in a village near Southport.
Misinformation spread on social media after the knife attack sparked the violent anti-immigration protests across the UK.
“To those who feel targeted because of the color of your skin or your faith, I know how frightening this must be," Starmer said, adding, “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.”
Monday's Cobra meeting, named after Cabinet Office Briefing Room A on Whitehall, is expected to provide the government with an update on the violence over the weekend and the response in the coming days.
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