Starmer Says 'Standing Army' Of Police Will Be Set Up To Deal With Riots
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer spoke following an emergency Cobra meeting amid ongoing disorder.The Prime Minister said a “standing army” of specialist police officers would be set up to deal with rioting and unrest.
Transcript
00:00I had a COBRA meeting this morning which was an opportunity that I took to thank the police
00:05for their work over the last few days, to express my support for the police officers
00:11who have been injured and the communities impacted by this mindless thuggery.
00:15There are a number of actions that came out of the meeting.
00:19The first is we will have a standing army of specialist officers, public duty officers,
00:27so that we will have enough officers to deal with this where we need them.
00:32The second is we will ramp up criminal justice, there have already been hundreds of arrests,
00:38some have appeared in court this morning.
00:40I have asked for early consideration of the earliest naming and identification of those
00:45involved in the process, who will feel the full force of the law.
00:50And thirdly, I have been absolutely clear that the criminal law applies online as well
00:55as offline and I'm assured that that's the approach that is being taken.
01:00Whatever the apparent motivation, this is not protest, it is pure violence and we will
01:07not tolerate attacks on mosques or our Muslim communities, so the full force of the law
01:15will be visited on all those who are identified as having taken part in these activities.