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Louise Thomas
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Watch as Sir Keir Starmer holds an emergency press conference at No 10 after vowing “action will be taken” following “violent disorder” in parts of England in the wake of the Southport stabbings.
The prime minister summoned police chiefs to Downing Street on Thursday afternoon (1 August) following scenes of unrest in London, Hartlepool and Manchester overnight, while a demonstration in Aldershot saw a tense stand-off with riot police.
At the meeting, he told the senior officers: “I wanted to send a message to each of you and, through you, your officers to say that this government supports the police, supports what you are doing, and to be absolutely clear: This is not protest, this is violent disorder and action will be taken.
“This Government will make sure you have got the powers you need and will back you in using those powers.”
Home secretary Yvette Cooper and Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood also attended the meeting with at least a dozen police bosses.
Merseyside Police chief constable Serena Kennedy told the meeting by videolink that the force is “determined to get justice” for the deadly attack on Monday, and to identify all those who took part in rioting on Tuesday in the seaside town.
In London, more than 100 people were arrested after protesters in Whitehall launched beer cans and glass bottles at police and threw flares at the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square.
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