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UK riots live: arrests surpass 400 as police prepare for further riots; man in serious condition after suspected hate crime | Politics Arrests surpass 400 as police prepare for further riotsMore than 400 people have now been arrested in connection with riots and disorder around the country, PA has reported, citing police sources. The number is expected to continue to rise in the coming days. There were 46 charges on Monday and 18 overnight, PA understands. Police are aware of six potential events on Tuesday, while Wednesday is expected to be a busy day, with officers monitoring reports of at least 30 possible gatherings. Key events Further 2,220 riot trained police officers to be deployed An extra 2,200 riot trained officers will be deployed to combat the extremist rightwing-led violence that has erupted since last week, police chiefs today announced. Police chiefs have decided to dramatically increase the number, with violence continuing on Monday, and more events planned today. They are also braced for a potential 30 so-called protests on Wednesday evening, and are assessing the credibility of an online document listing targets, many of which are connected to immigration and asylum. Already almost 4,000 riot officers had been deployed across England and Wales. Some faced violence in their own force area, some were sent to help out other forces which were under strain over the weekend. All the riot officers usually carry out regular police work, and thus a police source accepted that pulling another 2,200 riot trained officers from their usual duties will further damage regular policing. In total there are 18,000 specially trained public order or riot officers in England and Wales. The decision to increase the number deployed means 30% of the total will be deployed. A police source said the number would be adjusted up or down, as the situation develops. Further trouble is feared and being prepared for today and tomorrow. Over 400 arrests have now been made and the police source said while some of the violence is planned, with a lot of those joining in being locals who hear of so-called protests and decide to join in. Nigel Farage was in Hong Kong as riots spread, says reportNigel Farage was visiting Hong Kong as far-right riots spread across England and he called for the recall of parliament, the Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) has reported. The news that Farage was abroad came after he issued a statement on Monday calling for parliament to be recalled. In the statement, Farage, who is the MP for Clacton, also appeared to support the myth of “two-tier policing”. A spokesperson for Farage, the leader of Reform UK, confirmed the visit and said he had now returned, the HKFP reported. “This was an important family visit, taken whilst UK parliament is in recess, he is now back in the UK,” the spokesperson told the newspaper. Farage was spotted in Hong Kong by a social media user, who said she saw the politician at Hong Kong’s Mandarin Oriental hotel on Monday. Tommy Robinson has also been revealed as holidaying in Cyprus while continuing his online commentary about the riots. He is among those who are being looked at by police for their alleged role in disseminating disinformation. We have more detail on the 28 people charged in connection with violence in central Middlesbrough on Sunday. Cleveland Police said of this number, 26 have been charged with violent disorder, one is accused of possession of an offensive weapon and another was charged after being wanted on a warrant. Meanwhile, two men and two teenagers have been charged in connection with disorder in Bolton on Sunday. One man, 31, has been charged with violent disorder, while another, 18, has has been charged with criminal damage to property valued under £5,000. Both have been remanded in custody ahead of court appearances on Tuesday, Lancashire Police said. In addition, a 16-year-old boy has been charged with violent disorder and another 16-year-old boy has been charged with being in possession of an offensive weapon in a public place, police said. India warns its citizens about the riots, joining four other countries India has joined at least four other countries in advising its citizens about the dangers of the riots in England, warning them to avoid areas where protests are happening. In an advisory for Indians visiting the UK, the High Commission of India in London said: “Indian travelers would be aware of recent disturbances in some parts of the United Kingdom. The High Commissioner of India in London is closely monitoring the situation. “Visitors from India are advised to stay vigilant and exercise due caution while traveling in the UK. It is advisable to follow local news and advisories issued by local security agencies, and to avoid areas where protests are underway. In case of an emergency, the High Commission of India may be contacted.” Similar alerts have already been issued by Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Nigeria. The UK’s National Union of Students has offered a statement of support to communities affected by far-right rioting and violence, including students from Muslim and migrant backgrounds, following a week of far-right violence across England and in Belfast. “At NUS, we stand in solidarity with the migrants, racialised and Muslim communities that have faced xenophobic, racist, and Islamophobic violence in the last week,” the NUS statement said. The spread of violence is “the result of a growing and dangerous narrative that has served to normalise racist and anti-migrant sentiments,” it said. It added that the narrative had entered the higher education sector “through the vilification of international and refugee students”. Supporters of the far-right riots have worked to spread a dangerous myth: the idea that white far-right “protesters” are the victims of a “two-tier policing” system that discriminates against them over their race and political views. This false idea has been propagated by Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, as well as online figures including Laurence Fox. On Monday, Nigel Farage claimed that “ever since the soft policing of the Black Lives Matter protests, the impression of two-tier policing has become widespread”. It has been rejected by Yvette Cooper, Keir Starmer and Priti Patel. My colleagues Archie Bland and Vikram Dodd have written this explainer outlining the myth’s origins and how it has spread: Staffordshire Police are appealing for information from the public after a police dog was struck with a brick and six officers were injured during violent disorder in Tamworth and Stoke-on-Trent over the weekend. The dog was left with a gash above her right eye after she was attacked with a brick and has received medical treatment, the force said. Two other dogs were also injured in Tamworth. Six officers were also assaulted during the incidents across both areas at the weekend, although none of their injuries were serious. One man has been charged with assault by beating of an emergency worker after an officer was assaulted in Stoke-on-Trent on Saturday. Anyone with information about the assaults on officers or police dogs over the weekend, or who has access to any footage or images of the incident, can share them using the Major Incident Public Portal at mipp.police.uk or contact Crimestoppers. Courts in England “could possibly” sit through the night to swiftly see rioters in the dock, justice minister Heidi Alexander has said. The number of those arrested and charged continues to grow. Here are the latest updates, courtesy of PA.
Man in serious condition in hospital in Belfast after suspected hate crime People stamped on a man’s head in an attack that police are treating as a hate crime during another night of rioting in Belfast in Northern Ireland. Members of the public attempted to shield the man, who is in his 50s, during the disturbances in the Donegall Road and Oban Street area on Monday night, police said. He has been hospitalised. “His condition is described as serious and we are treating his attack as a hate crime,” said the statement. The crowd, several dozen-strong, threw bricks and petrol bombs, set a police Land Rover alight and attempted to burn the remains of a supermarket that had been torched during a riot on Saturday. It is owned by an immigrant. “Officers were able to douse this small fire before it developed,” said the statement. Police said they fired two Attenuating Energy Projectiles (AEPs), striking a rioter on the hand, and arrested a 15-year-old boy on suspicion of riotous behaviour. “There is never any justification for this type of violent behaviour,” Gordon Lyons, Stormont’s community minister, told the BBC. “There is no justification for attack on the police it needs to stop and it needs to stop straight away.” The Stormont assembly is to be recalled on Thursday to discuss the disturbances and race relations. Social media companies have a “moral responsibility” not to aid the spread of disinformation and inflammatory content on their platforms, the justice minister has said. Heidi Alexander told Sky News: “The idea that you can sit behind a computer screen or sit behind the screen of your mobile phone and somehow think that that protects you from the law is for the birds.” She added that the government will take “a very robust approach” to the companies. “There has been some welcome action where there has been automated removal of some false information, but I do think the social media companies could and should be doing more,” Alexander said. “They have got a moral responsibility not to be propagating and disseminating misleading and inflammatory content on their platforms.” Elon Musk’s post on X that “civil war is inevitable” amid the continued spread of rioting in England and Northern Ireland is “deeply irresponsible”, justice minister Heidi Alexander said. Musk, the head of X, formerly Twitter, has faced a backlash to his comments as social media sites have also been criticised for not doing enough to tackle the spread of disinformation. Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is already known to be among those who are being looked at by police for their alleged role in disseminating disinformation. Alexander told Times Radio: “If you have got a platform, a large social media platform, then you have also got a responsibility.” She said it was “deeply irresponsible” and that “everyone should be appealing for calm”. “Use of language such as a ‘civil war’ is in no way acceptable. We are seeing police officers being seriously injured, buildings set alight, and so I really do think that everyone who has a platform should be exercising their power responsibly,” Alexander said. A woman from Middlesbrough has spoken about the ‘traumatic’ experience of having her family’s home attacked in the far-right riots that reached her area over the weekend. A woman called Anika told BBC Radio 4 about the rioting in her area, which left damage to their property. “We closed all the blinds and curtains, windows, whatever could lock. Go upstairs obviously, because it’s not safe to be downstairs.” She said people tried to get into their home, smashing the door’s window. “They were swearing racial slurs and then jumping on top of the [car] windscreen, the roof of it, breaking the side mirror windows – the car had to be a write-off.” She added that her mother, a carer, had not been able to go to the child she cares for due to the riot and damage to the vehicle. Anika described the attack as “really scary”. “It’s just been like a traumatic experience, like we’ve never experienced it our life.” Government introduces more than 500 extra prison places over riotsThe government has introduced more than 500 additional prison places in response to the far-right riots, the justice minister has said, and those causing disorder will have a “prison place waiting for them”. Nearly 400 arrests have been made since the disorder began a week ago in the wake of the Southport stabbings. Police officers were attacked and injured in Plymouth, Belfast and Darlington on Monday. “We will make sure that anyone that is given a custodial sentence as a result of the riots and disorder, there will be a prison place waiting for them,” the justice minister Heidi Alexander told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. In response to the disorder, the government had introduced 567 additional prison places that were due to come forward at the end of the month, Alexander said. The new prison spaces will be in Stocken prison in Rutland and Cookham Wood young offender institution in Kent, according to the justice minister. Archbishop says rioters ‘defile the flag they wrap themselves in’ after violence continues for seventh nightGood morning. The Archbishop of Canterbury has said that rioters “defile the flag they wrap themselves in” on Tuesday morning, following seven days of far-riot riots that have seen violence spread across several towns and cities in England, as well as Belfast in Northern Ireland. Archbishop Justin Welby told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “This is not the United Kingdom. It is not British. It is not English. They defile the flag they wrap themselves in.” He said there had been “manipulation … by people on social media, by people abroad and that needs to be strongly resisted.” Here is a quick summary of the developments overnight:
Source link Posted: 2024-08-06 13:14:31 |
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