PM Starmer announces police unit to counter violence after fatal stabbings

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Thursday that he will create the ability for police forces to work across the UK to crack down on violent protesters after clashes with police across England on the past two nights that followed a horrific stabbing.

Starmer condemned the violence by a tiny mindless minority and said: We will put a stop to it.

The announcement came after police were pelted with bottles in several cities by what Starmer called marauding mobs who apparently were reacting to a stabbing Monday at a children's dance class that killed three and wounded 10. The attack at a Taylor Swift-themed summer holiday dance class shocked a country where knife crime is a long-standing and vexing problem, though mass stabbings are rare.

 

Far-right activists have used the deaths to stoke anger at immigrants and Muslims though the suspect is not an immigrant, and his religion has not been disclosed.

The announcement came as the 17-year-old boy charged with murdering three girls and stabbing 10 other people made his first appearance and was named in court partly to counter misinformation about his identity that has been blamed for triggering violent protests across England.

Judge Andrew Menary said his decision to allow Axel Rudakubana to be named was exceptional given the boy's age. But he said the teen will lose his right to anonymity when he turns 18 next week and continuing to shield his identity could allow false information about his name and immigration status to metastasize.

Continuing to prevent the full reporting has the disadvantage of allowing others to spread misinformation, in a vacuum, Menary said in Liverpool Crown Court.

The attack Monday on children at a Taylor Swift-themed summer holiday dance class shocked a country where knife crime is a long-standing and vexing problem, though mass stabbings are rare. The deaths have been used by far-right activists to stoke anger at immigrants and Muslims though the suspect is not an immigrant, and his religion has not been disclosed.