Forces must tackle all sides involved in civil disorder with “equal ferocity” a police leader has said, amid a row over “two-tier” policing after no arrests were made at a Muslim riot in Birmingham. The Telegraph has more.
It comes after around 200 mainly Muslim men, some wearing balaclavas and shouting “Free Palestine” or “Allahu Akbar” gathered in the Bordesley area of Birmingham following false rumours that a far-Right march was planned in the area.
Concern was raised when videos began circulating showing one man carrying what appeared to be a large sword and a Sky News crew broadcasting live being forced off the air by masked men.
There was also an attack on the Clumsy Swan pub in the area and police have since confirmed they are investigating allegations of criminal damage.
Richard Cooke, Chairman of the West Midlands Police Federation, representing rank-and-file officers in the region, admitted there were questions over the policing approach to the incident following criticism over the lack of arrests at the scene.
He said: “You look at these videos and it does look bad. You see a load of thugs in balaclavas waving knives around and you don’t see any police.
“There were a number of things that could have happened yesterday and so I think the force was looking at several potential incidents that could have happened and this was one of them.
“It is all about understanding the context to me but there is no doubt that it is not a good look to have criminals marauding in the streets.
“What you are supposed to do if you have someone with a machete or a bladed weapon is send armed support in and of course, they don’t want to do that so I think it is a case that if it is peaceful in the sense of nobody has been injured, I think the conclusion is that it is better to wait.
“There is clear CCTV of the guy with the sword, they need to ensure that he is arrested and people like him are dealt with where there is the evidence, because my worry is that there is a focus on the alleged far-Right protests and I just wonder whether there is the determination to deal with everyone on all sides with equal ferocity given the over stance taken by the political leadership of labelling ‘far-Right’, which may well be the case, but there are clearly other elements coming into play.”
He added: “The excuse often given, and I don’t necessarily agree with it, is that you don’t confront them at the time because on the balance of risk, someone might get hurt if we confront them but actually there is a bigger picture, if you don’t confront them you pay a heavy price in terms of the psychology amongst the wider public says that the police aren’t going to do anything and if you allow that to take root it becomes a bit cancerous.
“To me if I see someone waving swords around I think they have got to be confronted as soon as possible. You cannot let it stand and too often that is what we are seen to do.”
More than 400 people have now been arrested in connection with riots and disorder which began last week in Southport in response to the killing of three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club.
Worth reading in full.
Elon Musk pinned a video of the incident posted by activist Andy Ngo to the top of his X feed, asking: “Why aren’t all communities protected in Britain? @Keir_Starmer.“
Conservative leadership frontrunner Robert Jenrick posted a video on X calling for the violence to end, while acknowledging that the political system “has failed too many people and communities over the past few decades”.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.