Keir Starmer Says "Important We Don't Let Up" After Riots Avoided On Wednesday
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks with members of the West Midlands Police Force today (Alamy)
2 min read
The Prime Minister has said it is “important that we don’t let up” in the response to violence seen across the country over the last week, after thousands of counter-protesters took to the streets last night.
Keir Starmer confirmed that there would be another Cobra meeting of high-level officials this afternoon to “reflect” on the events of Wednesday evening, but also to “plan for the coming days”.
Starmer, a former director of public prosecutions, described the sentencing of people involved in disorder as a “very powerful message” and said that over the coming days there should be “necessary reassurance to our communities” who are “very anxious” about the situation.
He told broadcasters this afternoon that he believes the reason “we didn’t see the disorder we feared” last night “is because we had police deployed in numbers in the right places, giving reassurance to communities”.
The last week has seen riots and disorder in locations across the country, and it was reported that police had intelligence of around 100 potential events last night, but counter-protestors took to the streets across the country, including in Walthamstow and in Brighton.
The Prime Minister said that the “sentencing of individuals” involved in disorder “sent a very powerful message”.
"It’s important that we don’t let up here, and that’s why later on today I’ll have another Cobra meeting with law enforcement, with senior police officers to make sure that we reflect on last night but also plan for the coming days," he said.
Earlier today, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Mark Rowley said that Wednesday night went “very peacefully”.
“The show of force from the police and frankly the show of unity from communities together defeated the challenges that we’ve seen,” he told Sky News.
“It went off very peacefully last night.”
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