The British Prime Minister, the Labour Party’s Keir Starmer, is keeping a tight grip on the wave of violence encouraged by the extreme right since the multiple stabbings a week ago that caused the deaths of three girls aged between six and nine. After a weekend of protests against migration that ended in moments of chaos, the Government has convened this Monday the COBRA emergency cabinet (known as such for the acronym of the facilities where they are held) to coordinate a response to riots that have left at least 378 people arrested, mobilised by an active disinformation campaign on the Internet. Starmer has proposed the creation of a “permanent army” of police officers specialised in public order and the activation of the necessary protocols to enable courts practically 24 hours a day.
Given the evidence of the influence of the internet on the mobilisation, the government has agreed that legislation will be applied to those who have incited violence on social networks in the same way as those who participated in the clashes, which have left dozens of police officers injured and caused significant material damage. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman has specified that “anyone who encourages this violence, whether on the internet or in person, can be reported and faces prison sentences.”
Starmer, who has just completed a month in office, is trying to quell the first test of his mandate with a tough message against the promoters of the disturbances, whom he has again described as “far-right thugs”. But, despite growing pressure – even from his own MPs – he is resisting calling Parliament back, which is in summer recess until September. His priority, he has said, is security in the face of a phenomenon that he denounces as “not protests, but violence”, as he declared at the end of the meeting of the emergency cabinet, which included, in addition to the ministers of the departments affected, police and intelligence officials.
The government wants to ensure that the justice system can cope with the flood of complaints in order to identify and convict those responsible, who Starmer has warned will “feel the full weight of the law”. Overcrowding of both courts and prisons will, however, be an added problem, as prisons were already almost at full capacity before the change of government last month.
The Prime Minister blamed the previous Conservative administration for the situation, but gave assurances that there would be sufficient space for those involved in the violence of the past seven days. Already over the weekend, when serious incidents were reported – including raids on hotels housing undocumented migrants, as happened in Rotherham and Tamworth – some 70 prosecutors have been on hand to support police efforts in bringing charges.
The first meeting since the crisis broke out on Tuesday, when more than a hundred ultra-nationalists tried to take over a mosque in the town where the attack took place (Southport, in the north-west of England), has served to draw up a strategy based on prevention.
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Possible foreign interference
Downing Street has confirmed that courts will be allowed to remain open for longer to ensure speedy sentencing. While the decision ultimately rests with the judiciary, the government has made it clear that it expects swift sentencing and the enforcement of sentences. It has therefore given the green light to judges in England and Wales (which falls under the jurisdiction of the British Executive) to apply measures similar to those first put in place in the summer of 2011, when the death of a black man at the hands of the police precipitated a wave of riots. At that time, there were a thousand defendants in the first week, an unprecedented volume that would translate into an increase in prisoners of up to 900 more.
In addition to identifying those who encouraged the violence and actively participated in the disturbances, Monday’s meeting also analyzed what accelerated the events, and whether there has been foreign interference to generate instability in the United Kingdom. The Government believes that the frenetic activity on-line could have been “amplified” by hostile states, which would have maximised the disinformation that ignited the violence, after false reports that the only person accused, a 17-year-old individual born in Wales to a family of refugees from Rwanda, was a Syrian migrant on the radar of the intelligence services.
The anti-immigration rhetoric and the active campaign promoted on ultra-nationalist channels took care of the rest, and the Executive recalls that fake news “attracts amplification in the activity of bots, which can be linked to activity sponsored by certain States.” Downing Street has refused to specify which countries would be involved, although it reiterates the Prime Minister’s reprimand to the technological giants, whom he has warned that they “are not going far enough” in the battle against disinformation and incendiary content.
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