The prime minister has visited Southport and introduced a help bundle for the city after the deadly knife assault on a youngsters’s vacation membership there sparked violent protests in cities across the UK.
Sir Keir Starmer met Liverpool mayor Steve Rotheram and Merseyside Police’s chief constable Serena Kennedy – in addition to religion, well being, and training leaders within the city on Friday.
He then travelled to Alder Hey Kids’s Hospital in Liverpool the place among the youngsters injured in Monday’s assault have been handled.
Calls to ‘block roads with women and children’; Southport newest
Three youngsters, Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar, died after being stabbed on the Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance workshop at The Hart House on Monday morning. Eight different youngsters and two adults have been additionally injured.
A 17-year-old boy, Axel Rudakubana, was arrested and has since been charged with homicide and tried homicide.
Protesters in Southport this week. Pic: PA
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In a while Friday, Downing Road introduced a help bundle for victims and bereaved households, that it mentioned may also “drive longer term efforts to bring the community together”.
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The prime minister mentioned: “I cannot begin to imagine the pain that people are going through right now, but I am determined to make sure that Southport and its leaders have all the support they need to preserve and nurture this strength of community spirit – not just in the immediate aftermath, but also in the years to come.”
Assist being co-ordinated “could include access to vital mental health and psychological services [and] a programme of engagement with the community on how to best recover and rebuild,” Sir Keir added.
In the long run, the federal government will work with native leaders to “bolster community cohesion and build local resilience”.
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The stabbings have been adopted by outbreaks of violence, initially in Southport, the place far-right teams focused a mosque.
Different cities and cities, together with Hartlepool, Manchester, and Aldershot have now skilled unrest, with a minimum of 15 additional protests deliberate throughout the nation this weekend.
False narratives in regards to the suspect’s nationality and faith have unfold on-line and look like driving the unrest, with far-right teams reposting the claims on messaging app Telegram.
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It prompted Choose Andrew Menary KC to permit the naming of the suspect, who usually would have been granted anonymity as he’s 17.
Most of the posts selling the protests on social media comprise phrases comparable to “enough is enough”, “save our kids”, and “stop the boats”.
Sufficient is sufficient protests close to Downing Road this week. Pic: PA
Stand Up To Racism and different teams are organising a minimum of two counter-protests.
Sir Keir addressed the unrest earlier this week, vowing to “crackdown on thugs”, and organising a brand new police unit to sort out violent dysfunction.
Up to now protests have centered on mosques and motels the place migrants reside.
The protests organized for the weekend embrace ones in Southport, Leeds, and Bristol.
Protesters exterior Rochdale Police Station this week.
Pic: Story Image Company/Shutterstock
Police in Northern Eire have mentioned they’re conscious of plans to “block roads with women and children”.
In the meantime, forces in Nottinghamshire and Thames Valley are on excessive alert.
Liverpool Metropolis Area mayor mentioned he was “concerned” that there could possibly be a “repeat of violence somewhere in the Liverpool city region”, however added: “We know exactly what we’d need to do to ensure that these things are nipped in the bud.”
Lord Walney, the federal government’s adviser on political violence and disruption, mentioned police ought to be ready to step in if it seems troublemakers are travelling to incite riots.
