British authorities said Thursday they were preparing for the possibility of further unrest, even as they applauded the efforts of anti-racism campaigners and police who largely stifled a threatened wave of far-right demonstrations overnight.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer sounded the note of caution after a week of anti-immigrant violence that has scarred communities from Northern Ireland to the south coast of England. Starmer spoke to reporters at a mosque in Solihull, near Birmingham, where demonstrators shut down a shopping center on Sunday.
“It’s important that we don’t let up here,” Starmer said. “And that’s why later on today I’ll have another (emergency) meeting with law enforcement, with senior police officers to make sure that we reflect on last night but also plan for the coming days.”
The government is also considering imposing sanctions other than jail time, including banning rioters from soccer matches. Home Office minister Diana Johnson told LBC Radio that there should be consequences for those implicated in disorder.
“I think all options are being looked at, to be honest, and I am pretty clear that most football clubs do not want to be seen to have football hooligans and people carrying out criminal acts on the streets of the local communities in their stands on a Saturday,″ she said.
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