Starmer said in his statement: "We will have a standing army of specialist officers, public duty officers so that we will have enough officers to deal with this where we need them," adding that “we will ramp up criminal justice. There have already been hundreds of arrests, some have appeared in court this morning. I've asked for early consideration of the earliest naming and identification of those involved in the process who will feel the full force of the law."
He continued: "I have been absolutely clear that the criminal law applies online as well as offline and I'm assured that that is the approach that's being taken. Whatever the apparent motivation, this is not protest, it is pure violence and we will not tolerate attacks on mosques or our Muslim communities. So the full force of the law will be visited on all those who are identified as having taken part in these activities."
Protests and riots initially broke out across the UK in response to the fatal stabbing of three young school girls last week carried out by the son of African migrants, causing widespread clashes with UK police. The protests soon turned violent as rioters began attacking migrant centers and mosques. Counter protesters including "Muslim patrol" vigilante groups with weapons decided to take matters into their own hands to combat the protesters over the weekend.
Starmer had threatened that "far-right" protesters would "regret" their role in the protests against mass migration.
