UK PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer has said he wants to treat far-right rioters like football hooligans following a meeting with police chiefs in the wake of violent scenes in the English town of Southport on Tuesday.

Starmer said that the action of those who rioted in Southport was not protest, but criminal activity.

The riot came after a vigil was held in Southport to honour the victims of a horrific mass stabbing attack on young children. Far-right agitators, or “thugs” as Starmer described them, targeted a local mosque with bricks and other projectiles after rumours spread online that the attacker was Muslim.

Merseyside police said that many of the rioters had come from outside of the grieving community and Starmer said the far right had “shown us who they are”.

Another riot took place in Hartlepool last night, and another in London, which police believe were linked to the Southport attack. The London incident led to more than 100 arrests. 

The fact that the alleged perpetrator of the stabbing, which left three young girls dead and many more wounded, had not been named until today left a vacuum that was filled by disinformation from racist far-right actors. 

One name was circulated online that police confirmed was not that of the alleged attacker, whose name was not made public because he is a minor.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage posted a video online in which he wondered if the truth was “being withheld”. Asked about Farage’s comments, Starmer declined to address them specifically. 

The teenager in police custody has since been charged and named as Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, 17, who was born in Cardiff in Wales but lives in Banks, a town close to Southport. 

In a press conference this afternoon following Starmer’s meeting with police chiefs, the Prime Minister said he would like to see orders against individuals used in a similar way to those found guilty of hooliganism at football matches, which could restrict offenders’ movements. 

This is because, as Starmer said, the far right in the UK is coordinated and its adherents move from place to place, inserting themselves into communities after tragic events like the one in Southport, much like their counterparts in Ireland do.

He also said that he has seen first-hand, as a former prosecutor, how cases can be dismissed due to prejudice when public speculation influences trials. This only piles on more grief for families and friends of victims, he said.

Starmer said he plans to set up a new ”national capability” across police forces to combat violent disorder, which would include sharing intelligence, the use of facial recognition technology and preventative measures to restrict people’s movements.

He described those behind the violent scenes as a ”gang of thugs”, insisting he would not permit “a breakdown of law and order” on the streets of the UK.

Asked what he had to say to the Muslim community in Britain after the attack on the mosque in Southport and the shouting of racial slurs, Starmer said he would “take every step that’s necessary” to keep them safe, adding that the far-right are showing who they are by attacking mosques “because they are mosques”. 

On the role of social media companies in handling disinformation, Starmer said that incitement to violence online is already a criminal offence but that there is room for a conversation to be had on the matter.