Violent_rioting_continues_in_England_and_Northern_Ireland___BBC_News(360p)
Violent_rioting_continues_in_England_and_Northern_Ireland___BBC_News(360p)
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Start this hour here in the UK, where there's been renewed rioting in some cities in England
00:05and Northern Ireland. The worst outbreaks of violence came in Belfast, Plymouth and Birmingham.
00:11Nearly 400 people have been arrested after a week of violent disorder, which began last week in
00:17Southport after the fatal stabbings of three girls and escalated following misinformation
00:23about the identity of the perpetrator spread on social media. Last night in Plymouth, at least
00:28three police officers were injured. In what the police described as sustained violence,
00:33bricks and fireworks were thrown at them. Six arrests were made. In Belfast, riot officers
00:40had stones and petrol bombs thrown at them close to a supermarket, which was set alight at the
00:46weekend. As the latest disorder unfolded, the prime minister criticised the owner of ex Elon
00:52Musk, who posted that civil war is inevitable in the UK. Our reporter Aruna Iyengar has the latest.
00:59Refugees are welcome here. Two opposing protests in Plymouth started out peacefully
01:05before vocal clashes between the anti-racism and anti-immigration groups. Police in riot gear were
01:12deployed to keep the groups apart and several officers suffered injuries as violence later
01:18broke out. It was kind of terrifying. Hundreds of people moved up the whole park onto the
01:25promenade and the memorial area. 10 minutes after that, there was a strong police presence
01:32dissipating them after they'd set fires and things. And then there was a huge group of
01:36rioters outside our front door, kind of smashing things, organising themselves for further mischief.
01:41And then 10 minutes after that, it completely moved back down towards the town centre area.
01:46Trying to disperse immediately. There was also unrest in South Belfast. Last night,
01:53riot teams were deployed to Sandy Row as a petrol bomb and stones were thrown at police officers.
01:59In Birmingham, cars were smashed and a pub was damaged after protesters gathered following
02:04false rumours of a planned far-right demonstration. And a hate crime investigation is underway in
02:12Burnley after gravestones in the Muslim section of a cemetery were covered in white paint.
02:18I still think that there is a way to bring this to an end by people coming together as a community
02:24in the way that we've seen in the clean-up operations. Now, clearly that strength of
02:28community spirit is there and that's what we call upon to bring this violence to an end.
02:34Meanwhile in Southport, the community is dealing with the horrors of last week and
02:39the disorder that's followed. The family of Leanne Lucas, who was stabbed while leading
02:44the children's dance class, have shared their disbelief at what's going on around the country.
02:49Just go home. Just let us recover the best we can.
02:56I know we're never going to recover, but at least give us a chance to.
03:01Police say they're working around the clock to identify more people involved in the violent
03:06disorder, with more arrests expected in the coming days. Aruna Iyengar, BBC News.
03:14Let's go live to our political correspondent, Harry Farley, who is at Westminster. So,
03:18Harry, more violence last night and the Prime Minister has spoken about holding those responsible
03:24both on the streets and online, but I suppose the question is, how can the government do that?
03:30That's right, Nicky, morning to you. Ministers that we've been hearing from are very concerned.
03:35As you say, about criminal activity online, such as inciting violence, but also separately about
03:41the spread of misinformation online and urging social media companies to do more. And in that
03:49context, we heard briefly, as you mentioned there, the war of words that's really emerged between the
03:55Prime Minister and the CEO of X, Elon Musk, one of the richest men in the world. And Elon Musk
04:02highlighted a post by the far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy
04:08Robinson, to his 193 million followers. And then separately, in response to another post about
04:13the riots, Elon Musk posted, civil war is inevitable in the UK. And the Prime Minister's
04:20spokesperson, we heard from yesterday, criticising that comment, saying there is no justification
04:25for comments like that. But then Elon Musk followed it up, directly criticising the
04:30Prime Minister, who said last night that he would not tolerate attacks on Muslim communities.
04:34And in response to that, Elon Musk posted, shouldn't you be concerned about attacks
04:39on all communities? And so there's that context, I suppose, going around, that spat between the
04:46Prime Minister and Elon Musk. We heard from the Justice Minister, Heidi Alexander, this morning,
04:51rejecting accusations from the protesters, among some rioters, about two-tier policing,
04:58essentially that the police manage protests in different ways, depending on which community
05:04is protesting. She rejected those allegations when she spoke to us this morning.
05:09Fundamentally, the police will take operational decisions about how to police protests effectively.
05:16What I do take issue with, though, is the idea that what we're seeing on our streets at the
05:20moment is a protest. It is not. It is outright, sheer criminality and violence. And that is
05:28why the individuals who are responsible for it need to face the full force of the law
05:33and face consequences for the actions that they are choosing to take.
05:41Secretary Peter Kyle met with representatives from X, but also TikTok, Meta and Google yesterday.
05:49And following that meeting, he said that he expects platforms to ensure that those seeking
05:53to spread hate online are not being facilitated and have no place to hide. And the government,
06:00I suppose, looking, as you say, to arrest and sentence those who are participating in violence
06:06on the streets, but also urging social media companies to do more to stop the spread of
06:12misinformation on their platforms. And on that point that they want to arrest and put them
06:16through the courts, is there enough court time? And we know that prison spaces have been at
06:23low amount available. So are more prison spaces going to be created?
06:28Well, let's take that second point, first of all, on prisons. As you say, there's been real concern
06:32over the last few weeks about the availability of prison space and the capacity within the prison
06:38system with warnings about the estate, the prison estate being full. The government saying this
06:43morning that they are releasing, they are creating an extra more than 500 prison places in the coming
06:49weeks. Now, that was part of a plan already. It's going to come partly from repurposing cells in
06:56Cookham Wood in Kent, but also a new block in Rutland. So those plans were already in place,
07:03but they're being sort of accelerated, I suppose, to cope with the arrests that have been made.
07:08Keir Starmer says he wants those who have been arrested to stay, to be remanded in custody while
07:13they wait for trial. And so far, around 400 people have been arrested, with the National
07:19Police Chiefs Council saying that they are expecting more to be arrested in the coming
07:23days as police wade through all that footage that we've seen to identify those people perpetrating
07:30the violence. And on your point about courts, Nicky, well, there's an additional protocol
07:35that's been set up so that the courts can sit, magistrates courts in particular, can sit for
07:40longer if they need to. That is actually up to the judiciary, up to the judges to set those hours.
07:47But that power is there if they need to sit for longer to process the extra hearings that
07:52they're expecting. Harry Farley with the latest at Westminster. Thank you very much.