Starmer says UK 'on high alert' for more far-right rallies

Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned Friday that U.K. authorities must "stay on high alert" in the coming hours and days, amid fears of further far-right riots in English towns and cities.

His comments followed consecutive nights of relative quiet across England, after a week of near daily unrest in more than a dozen places in the wake of a deadly knife attack that killed three children.

Disturbances have continued unabated in Northern Ireland, however, where police have blamed pro-U.K. loyalist paramilitaries for fuelling nightly violence in Belfast.

Speaking during a visit to the headquarters of London's Metropolitan Police, Starmer said "swift justice" dispensed on rioters by police and the courts in recent days had acted as a deterrent to more disorder in England.

"I'm absolutely convinced that having the police officers in place these last few days, and the swift justice that has been dispensed in our courts have had a real impact," he told U.K. broadcasters.

"But we have to stay on high alert going into this weekend because we absolutely have to make sure that our communities are safe and secure."

Starmer held another crisis meeting of top ministers and police chiefs late Thursday.

In his latest remarks, he noted potential unrest linked to the start of the football season would be "added into the mix" of challenges facing authorities this weekend.

Some far-right rioters and agitators are believed to have links to England's decades-old football hooligan scene, which has diminished since its heyday in the 1980s but can still generate violence on match days.

  'Safe and secure' 

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