British prime minister Keir Starmer will meet senior police leaders on Thursday after a second night of clashes between protesters and police prompted by the deaths of three young girls in a knife attack at a dance class.
There were angry scenes in London on Wednesday evening as thousands of anti-immigration protesters gathered near Starmer's Downing Street office and residence chanting "save our kids" and "we want our country back".
The previous night more than 50 police officers were injured in violent clashes in the English seaside town of Southport, where Monday's stabbings took place.
A 17-year-old boy has been charged with murder and attempted murder after the bloody rampage on Monday at a ‘Taylor Swift yoga and dance workshop’, a summer event for children aged 6 to 11.
He is due to appear at Liverpool city magistrates court on Thursday morning.
Prime minister Keir Starmer will commit to working in partnership with police forces across the UK to stop “mindless violence” following scenes of unrest in Southport, London, Hartlepool and elsewhere.
He is expected to remind the police that people “exploit” the right to protest in order to “sow hatred” or commit “violent acts” should be met with “the full force of the law”.
Starmer’s office said he would use Thursday’s meeting with police to “offer them the government’s full backing following multiple high-profile incidents of extreme violence and public disorder on our streets”.
"While the right to peaceful protest must be protected at all costs, he will be clear that criminals who exploit that right in order to sow hatred and carry out violent acts will face the full force of the law," his office added.
The disorder took place after false information was spread on social media that the suspect was a radical Islamist migrant.
Police are legally restricted in the details they can provide about the alleged teenage attacker, but they have said the incident was not terrorism-related and that he was born in Britain, quashing speculation on his origins. - Reuters