The government’s policing minister has warned there is intelligence more protests could happen in the next few days after concerns about violence last night did not materialise.
Dame Diana Johnson said: “I am cautious about what happened last night.
“It’s good that we didn’t see the level of disorder and criminality on our streets that we have in previous days, but obviously this is just the start.
“There is now further intelligence of events during the next few days, and we need to see what happens there.”
She did not say how many and where these events are planned.
Police had intelligence about 100 protests planned across the UK on Wednesday night following a week of riots.
However, after a massive planned police operation, it was mainly counter-protesters who turned out to march peacefully.
Dame Diana said she thought the far-right protesters did not turn up thanks to the police presence and the arrest and sped up prosecution of rioters.
More than 400 people have been arrested since the first riot took place last Tuesday following false information spreading online that the Southport stabbings suspect was a Syrian asylum seeker who had come to the UK in a small boat last year.
He is actually 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, who was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents. He has been charged with the murder of three young girls and attempted murder of eight other children and two adults.
Since the rioting began, more than 120 people have been charged with various offences, including violent disorder, racially aggravated harassment and using threatening words online to stir up racial hatred.
Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, who was coordinating much of the police activity on Wednesday, said a show of force from the police and unity from communities won out.
“I’m really pleased with how it went,” he said.
“We put thousands of officers on the street and I think the show of force from the police and, frankly, the show of unity from communities together defeated the challenges that we’ve seen.”
He announced dawn raids were carried out on Thursday morning to arrest suspected violent offenders from the past few days.
About 70% of the most violent offenders have criminal backgrounds, he revealed.
Police continue to work through footage and evidence gathered over the last week of riots and will be sweeping up offenders over the next 24 hours, he said.
“These are criminal thugs, any suggestion that they are patriots or have got a cause that they are protesting about is nonsense,” he added.
“They are criminals and frankly most of them will be charged with violent disorder and most are going to go to prison for a few years.”
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive Breaking News alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News App. You can also follow @SkyNews on X or subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
Source Agencies
