The Home Secretary has warned that ‘thugs’ involved in riots and disorder over the weekend ‘will face a knock on the door from police’.
Yvette Cooper said there would be a ‘reckoning’ after violence scenes of disorder unfolded in all corners of the country across Saturday and Sunday, with police officers attacked, shops looted and mosques targeted. ‘Far-right thugs’ also tried to storm Holiday Inn hotels housing asylum seekers.
Ms Cooper described the scenes as ‘total disgrace’ this morning. She vowed that those involved ‘will pay the price’.
She told Sky News: “It’s a total disgrace and there has to be a reckoning. Those individuals who are involved in the disorder need to know that they will pay a price.
“I’ve made clear to the police they have my full support in going after the full range of offenders, from those who turned up at the last minute and joined in the looting, to some of the most serious offenders who were pursuing really dangerous arson, really dangerous damage and criminal violence, because we simply cannot stand for this.
“So we should be clear, there will be people who were thinking they were going on their summer holidays this week, and instead they will face a knock on the door from the police. They will face arrest and… a police cell, while they wait for trial in order to make sure that they do pay the price for what they have done.”
Ms Cooper also claimed that social media has put ‘rocket boosters’ under far-right organisations. Speaking to BBC Breakfast, she said: “Social media companies need to take some responsibility, we also need to make sure that criminal activity online is being pursued, and I think it’s really important that none of us forget this minority of thugs do not speak for Britain.”
Large-scale riots broke out in Middlesborough, Rotherham and Tamworth last night, following disorder in cities such as Manchester, Hull, Liverpool, Stoke-on-Trent, Nottingham, Bristol, Blackpool and Belfast on Saturday. Downing Street will hold a Cobra emergency response meeting today after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer vowed rioters would ‘regret’ engaging in ‘far-right thuggery’.
Monday’s meeting is due to involve relevant ministers and police representatives who will discuss the response in the coming days to ensure there is no repeat of the violent scenes. A number of MPs have said Parliament should be recalled as it was in 2011 so the Commons could debate the riots.
This morning, Dame Priti Patel said politicians need to ‘get some kind of grip of this’. She told Times Radio: “What we are seeing across the country right now is just extraordinary criminality.
“At the end of the day, crime and criminality is the responsibility of those who are perpetrating this and we now need to, in my view, as politicians, get some kind of grip of this, which is why I am calling for the recall of Parliament right now so that we can actually discuss these issues in a similar way…back in 2011 those discussions took place and actually we put our arm around the communities that were affected at the time. And I think that’s really what we should be doing right now.”
Nigel Farage also called for Parliament to be recalled ‘for a proper debate’. The Reform UK leader said ‘in the short team we will quell the riots, but deeper long-term problems remain’.