The British government is threatening to crack down on what it calls "extremists" after mass protests turned into riots across the United Kingdom in the wake of three little girls being stabbed to death at a Taylor Swift dance party by an immigrant in Southport last week.
Hotels housing illegal migrants, mosques, police stations, and vehicles driving foreigners have been attacked by native Brits, while Muslim gangs and leftist militants have violently assaulted largely white protestors as police stand by.
There are now concerns that the left-wing Labour government under Prime Minister Kier Starmer will use the riots to crack down on social media and even use extreme measures to suppress any native British opposition to migration policy and crime.
Baron Walney, John Woodcock, the UK Government’s adviser on political violence, is now arguing that the government consider a COVID-style lockdown using the 2023 Public Order Act to stop all protests against open borders and migrant violence if the unrest continues.
“I think the government and new ministers will understand the British public will back them in whatever measures they feel is necessary to get this situation under control,” Walney told The Times Radio.
“Back in COVID, they were prepared to back measures that were needed in that situation and I think they would take a similar approach to keeping rioters off the streets now given the scale of damage that has been done to communities,” he suggested.
The Public Order Act was passed by the then Tory led Parliament in May 2023 to give British law enforcement greater powers to target "disruptive" extreme leftist activist groups, like Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil, and Insulate Britain.
In response to Walney's comments, Elon Musk, tweeted "!!." on August 3.
The following day, Musk tweeted "Civil war is inevitable" in response to a video and comment by conservative influencer Ashley St. Clair showing the recent violence in the streets of England.
Labour policymakers have blamed "misinformation" on Musk's X platform for spreading unrest and have discussed passing new social media laws to crack down on free speech and to impose political censorship.
"Mark my words – Britain’s leftist government will use this outbreak of violence to launch a crackdown on free speech, specifically against Elon Musk’s X platform," tweeted conservative commentator Ben Kew.
Starmer has said that the police have his full support in taking on “extremists.” He issued a “guarantee” that they would “regret taking part in this disorder” while condemning an attack on a hotel housing foreign migrants in Rotherham, the city where the notorious Muslim "grooming gang" incidents took place.
In a nationwide TV announcement, the prime minister called the attack on the facility “far-right thuggery,” while ignoring the ethnic gangs who have attacked the mostly peaceful anti-migrant activists in the streets.
He further pledged to “do whatever it takes to bring these thugs to justice as quickly as possible."
Starmer's response to the recent unrest has been slammed as hypocritical, particularly in contrast to his praise of the violent 2020 Black Lives Matter riots. Starmer infamously took a knee in solidarity with the far-left group.
He once described the BLM supporters who terrorized cities across the UK as “people rightly demanding justice” in his own thread on X.
"Many left-wing voices are saying those involved should be treated like the American Jan. 6 suspects. Meanwhile, UK Antifa groups are organizing to join the Muslim and leftist coalition to brawl with the protesters," warned journalist Andy Ngô in a tweet.
UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has promised to provide $37.5 million in funding to provide greater protection for mosques, following attacks in parts of the UK, but not for churches or synagogues.
Meanwhile, Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, attacked Starmer for his failure to address the mass migration problem that has caused the latest crisis.
After condemning violence against law enforcement on X, Farage said that “deeper long-term problems remain” and called for the recall of parliament along with a proposal to deploy the army.
In contrast, former Home Secretary Priti Patel, one of the official contenders for the Tory leadership battle to replace former PM RIshi Sunak, criticized Farage's comments and called on Starmer to recall Parliament for an emergency session to crack down on the unrest in the streets.
Patel told Times Radio that Farage’s statements were "deeply misleading" and “simply not relevant right now.”
“There’s a clear difference between effectively blocking streets or roads being closed to burning down libraries, hotels, food banks and attacking places of worship," said Patel. "What we have seen is thuggery, violence, racism."
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