Keir Starmer to lead emergency meeting after vowing swift justice awaits ‘far-right thugs’

Violence has broken out in several parts of England and Northern Ireland following the killing of three young girls in Southport last week

A car burns in Middlesbrough, during an anti-immigration protest. Picture: Owen Humphreys/PA

Keir Starmer will lead a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee on Monday morning after issuing a stark warning to “far-right thugs” in Britain that they will regret any role in rioting, which escalated on Sunday with a mob attempting to set fire to a hotel housing asylum seekers and other violent disorder.

The prime minister said the violent rioters targeting people because of their skin colour will be swiftly convicted, as he said “all right-minded people should condemn” the disorder.