• The more than 100 far-right gatherings that were expected to take
place on Wednesday failed to materialise following the mobilisation of
6,000 riot officers and the deterrent effect of the swift arrests and
court appearances of those accused of participating in the weekend’s violence.
• Instead, thousands of anti-racism protesters held their own counter rallies, everywhere from Newcastle to Bristol to Birmingham, London and Brighton. They formed human shields to protect asylum centres, and waved placards saying “refugees welcome” and “reject racism, try therapy”.
• Police made a number of arrests around the country, many of them
stemming from online activity.
• The messaging app Telegram said it will be “removing channels and
posts containing calls to violence” in the UK. The app, which gained prominence in far-right circles as one of the last places that the EDL
founder, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (better known as Tommy Robinson) was
allowed to post, has become a go-to app for the far-right.
• Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons speaker, wrote to MPs suggesting they
review their security in the wake of the threat of further riots – and
that some might want to consider working from home.
• London mayor Sadiq Khan called on people in the city to “check on
their friends and neighbours and show them that care and compassion is
what Londoners are all about”.
• Conservative shadow policing minister Matt Vickers, and Conservative leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick both made criticisms of Keir Starmer,
with Jenrick saying the prime minister “has made a mistake in that he
has not shown equal treatment to all forms of violence perpetrated by
whoever it is, wherever it is in the country”.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2024/aug/07/uk-riots-far-right-latest-unrest-southport-stabbings-politics#top-of-blog
Compassion & Law & Order & Therapy. And the far-right threat is again
thwarted.
--
"And off they went, from here to there,
The bear, the bear, and the maiden fair"
-- Traditional
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)