'The inciting of violence and violence on the street has absolutely no place in our democracy'
The Home Office could proscribe the English Defence League under terror laws, Angela Rayner has suggested, after the violent riots outside a mosque in Southport on Tuesday evening.
The Deputy Prime Minister said: “I’m sure that that will be something that the Home Secretary will be looking at as part of the normal course of what we do and the intelligence that we have.”
She said “thuggish behaviour” and the “inciting of violence” has “absolutely no place in our democracy” as she added “we have to crack down on those that perpetuate violence and spread it within our communities.”
The far-right group was thought to be behind organising the riot that saw 39 police officers hurt, shops looted, a police van set on fire and people taking part in Islamophobic chanting.
It was fuelled by misinformation online spreading racism and Islamophobia that led to far-right antagonisation, following the devastating knife attacks in Southport on Monday and the deaths of three young girls. The far-right have capitalised on the shocking event at a time of mourning, to instead stoke division, with violent unrest taking place for a second night in further parts of England.
Former Scottish Minister Humza Yousaf sent a letter to Yvette Cooper on Wednesday calling on the Government to proscribe the EDL under the Terrorism Act 2000.
He wrote: “Proscribing the EDL will demonstrate the UK Government’s intention to be proactive in tackling far-right violence and terror that has been allowed to run rampant in the streets of the UK for far too long.”
The campaign organisation Hope Not Hate has said however that the EDL no longer exists, and that Tommy Robinson quit the organisation in 2013. The anti-racism group said those attending the riots are best described as supporters of Tommy Robinson.
(Image credit: Keir Starmer / Flickr)
Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward
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