By Lucy Clarke-Billings, BBC News, Aug 5: There will be an emergency response meeting in Downing Street on Monday after more than 150 people were arrested following violent disorder in UK towns and cities over the weekend.
It comes after Sir Keir Starmer condemned an attack on a
hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham and promised those involved in unrest
would face "the full force of the law".
Police responded to violent scenes in Tamworth,
Middlesbrough, Bolton, Hull and Weymouth, among other parts of the UK.
The prime minister vowed to do "whatever it takes to
bring these thugs to justice" as he addressed the nation on Sunday.
Cobra meetings, or Cobr meetings as they are often also
called, are named after Cabinet Office Briefing Room A on Whitehall.
It is an emergency response committee, a get together of
ministers, civil servants, the police, intelligence officers and others
appropriate to whatever they are looking into.
Monday's meeting of the emergency committee will be intended
to provide the government with an update on the violence over the weekend and
the response in the coming days. It will involve relevant ministers and police
representatives.
Sources have suggested this should be seen in the context of
meetings that have already taken place, such as one between the prime minister
and police chiefs last Thursday, and a meeting of senior ministers on Saturday.
During the prime minister's televised address on Sunday, he
warned those involved that they will "regret" taking part.
"People in this country have a right to be safe, and
yet we've seen Muslim communities targeted, attacks on mosques," the prime
minister said.
"Other minority communities singled out, Nazi salutes
in the street, attacks on the police, wanton violence alongside racist
rhetoric, so no, I won't shy away from calling it what it is: far-right
thuggery."
In a statement, the Home Office offered mosques greater
protections as part of a new process, under which it said "rapid
security" deployment can be requested in order to allow a return to
worship as fast as possible.
The Cobra meeting will come after a sixth day of escalating
violence following the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport last
Monday.
Since Saturday, more than 150 arrests have been made
In Rotherham, at least ten police officers were injured with
one left unconscious after anti-immigration demonstrators threw planks of wood
at officers and sprayed them with fire extinguishers, South Yorkshire police
said.
Some members of the group smashed
windows to gain access to the Holiday Inn Express and a large bin was set
alight.
The officer knocked unconscious suffered a head injury, the
force said, adding that at least two others had suspected broken bones.
Hotel employees and residents, some of whom are asylum
seekers, were "terrified", but no injuries were reported, police
said.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper called the scenes "utterly
appalling" and said police have government backing to take "the
strongest action".
At a second hotel in Tamworth, Staffordshire, officers said
they had to deal with "violent acts of thuggery" on Sunday evening.
One officer was injured at the site as people threw
missiles, smashed windows, and started fires, Staffordshire Police said.
Meanwhile, a group of rioters in Middlesbrough smashed the windows of houses and cars and hurled objects at officers.
In Dorset, 600 people from opposing sides gathered on the
seafront in Weymouth. Officers said there had been a "small number of
low-level incidents", with one
man arrested for a public order offence.
And in Bolton, anti-immigration
protestors were confronted by a group of up to 300 masked people shouting
"Allahu Akbar" - or "God is greatest".
Greater Manchester Police issued a Section 60AA order in the
town which requires people to "remove face coverings used to disguise or
conceal their appearance". It will stay in force until 22:00 BST on
Sunday.
The violence follows similar scenes of unrest in Southport,
Belfast, Hartlepool, Hull, Liverpool, Stoke-on-Trent, Nottingham, Sunderland
and elsewhere earlier in the week.
Sir Keir indicated the response to the violence could mirror
elements of how the 2011 riots were handled, at which time he was director of
public prosecutions.
"We do have standing arrangements for law enforcement
which means that we can get arrests... and convictions done very quickly,"
he said.
"I myself was part of that in 2011 when I was director
of public prosecutions, and I'm determined we will do whatever it takes to
bring these thugs to justice as quickly as possible."
Ministers have suggested that courts could sit 24 hours to
fast-track prosecutions - as they did in 2011 - while police forces have
measures in place to draft in extra officers to tackle potential unrest.