The government has said it will do “whatever it takes” to ensure those engaging in criminal activity during violent disorder across the UK are dealt with, including courts sitting overnight.
It comes as the government’s adviser on political violence and disruption warned that far-right actors are “almost certainly” being “aided and abetted by hostile states in creating and fanning disinformation”.
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Minister for policing, Dame Diana Johnson, told Sky News the government will ensure the “necessary” resources are put in place so those who have been arrested can be processed quickly.
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How violent UK protests unfolded
Asked whether that includes courts sitting overnight, she said: “The prime minister has been very clear that we will do whatever it takes to make sure that people can get through the court system,” she said.
“We’ve already got people arrested and remanded into custody. It’s very clear that we want to send that message to people – if you engage in this type of criminal thuggery on our streets, you will be held to account.”
She said that the prime minster was the director of public prosecutions during the 2011 riots when the courts did sit through the night and is therefore “very well versed … in making sure we have available what’s needed”.
She also confirmed there was prison capacity to jail those convicted.
“We cannot have people feeling they are not safe on their streets, particularly communities who don’t feel safe because of the colour of their skin,” she added.
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Dozens of people have been arrested after violent disorder in England and Northern Ireland on Saturday, with police warning more violence is likely in the coming days.
Police officers were attacked and injured, while there were also clashes between anti-immigration demonstrators and counter-protesters.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has said those involved in the clashes “will pay the price”, adding that “criminal violence and disorder has no place on Britain’s streets”.
Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has told ministers “the whole justice system is ready to deliver convictions as quickly as possible”.
Protests this week erupted following the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport – which was followed by a wave of online misinformation about the suspect spread by far-right activists and agitators.
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Lord Walney, the government’s adviser on political violence and disruption, told Sky News the Southport tragedy had been “seized on by far-right actors almost certainly aided and abetted by hostile states in creating and planning disinformation to put out false narratives”.
He said the government should “do more” to go after accounts spreading false information and that he had recommended in his recent review to the government that intelligence and security sources should be given more resources.
“You’ll have troll factories in places like Russia and Iran full of Russian or Iranian nationals pretending to be Brits with extreme views on the far right or the far left, whose sole purpose is to create disinformation and fan it,” he said.
“That can have a very significant effect in this environment.”