Prime Minister Keir Starmer set to chair another emergency Cobra meeting in response to continuing unrest

8 August 2024, 14:15 | Updated: 8 August 2024, 15:04

Sir Keir Starmer will chair his third emergency meeting in a week this afternoon with law enforcement officials, following unrest in England and Northern Ireland.

Thousands of police officers were on standby as more than 100 events were expected last night, with 30 counter-demonstrations planned.

The Prime Minister intends to "reflect on last night" and plan for the coming days.

He says the justice system is "working speedily" to deal with people involved in the disorder and sentencings are sending a "powerful message".

Two rioters, John O’Malley, 43, and William Nelson Morgan, 69, have each been sentenced to two years and eight months in prison for violent disorder on Merseyside

The Prime Minister has told LBC he has this message for those who may have stayed at home but incited violence online.

Read More: Reckoning for the rioters: Police swoop on 'thugs and criminals' in string of dawn raids

Read More: Grandfather, 69, becomes oldest rioter jailed after judge hands down 32-month sentence

Nationwide shops were boarded up in several towns and cities due to fears of rioting a week following violent disorder.

Additional violence was mainly curtailed, however the Prime Minister said it was "important that we don't let up".

After a visit to a mosque in Solihull, he told broadcasters: "Now it's important that we don't let up here and that's why later on today I will have another Cobra meeting with law enforcement, with senior police officers, to make sure that we reflect on last night but also plan for the coming days.”

Sir Keir said Wednesday night’s events turned out “much better than was expected”, and suggested the additional deployment of police officers and the quick sentencing of people involved in disorder were the reasons riots did not materialise.

“We were able to demonstrate the criminal justice system working speedily, so yesterday we saw the sentencing of individuals who had been involved in disorder days ago, some of them getting sentences as long as three years.

The Prime Minister said: "That sent a very powerful message."

In the West Midlands, Sir Keir also held a roundtable discussion with Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmoud, West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker, and members of the Muslim community, and met police officers who attended recent disorder.

Previously, Metropolitan Police chief Sir Mark Rowley had suggested the "show of force from the police" and "the show of unity from communities" together "defeated the challenges that we've seen."

He also told the BBC the Met had undertaken "dawn raids" on Thursday morning, looking for the most violent in the Whitehall protests and violence last week", about 70 per cent of whom have criminal backgrounds.

Sir Mark said: “We’ve got criminal damage, violence, weapons offences, football banning orders. These are criminal thugs.

"People charged with offences related to rioting have continued to appear in the dock across the country.

"This has included appearances at magistrates courts in Hull, Stratford, Westminster, Leeds, Sheffield, and Northampton."