PM Starmer says criminal justice system to continue working speedily
DNA
ISLAMABAD: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed on Thursday to maintain intensive efforts to stop further far-right riots in English towns and cities, as more people were convicted for their roles in the unrest.
Starmer chaired another emergency meeting of senior ministers and police leaders later Thursday to plan for potential trouble in “the coming days”, with top police chief Gavin Stephens warning that those “intent on violence and destruction have not gone away”. Starmer also noted the criminal justice system would continue “working speedily” to convict those already arrested during a week of near nightly riots across England and in Northern Ireland.
The province’s devolved assembly was recalled from summer recess after another night of disturbances in Belfast, where there were five arrests and a police officer was injured.
Northern Irish police have said the violence there has been exacerbated by pro-UK loyalist paramilitaries.
In England, police revealed nearly 500 people had now been arrested for alleged participation in the unrest and a judge in Liverpool, northwest England, jailed several more people for their involvement.
The disturbances, first sparked by a July 29 knife attack that killed three children, has seen mosques and migrant-related facilities attacked alongside police and other targets.
