Claims of two-tier policing in the riots that followed the Southport attacks last summer have no evidence to back them up, a report from MPs has found.
Far-right agitator Tommy Robinson and actor-turned-activist Laurence Fox are singled out for spreading the ‘disgraceful’ suggestion that officers are more heavy-handed when responding to right-wing protests.
The new report from Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee said: ‘Far from being evidence of “two-tier policing”, the policing response last summer was entirely appropriate given the levels of violence and criminality that were on display.’
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage also faced criticism during the riots after he claimed ‘the impression of two-tier policing has become widespread’.
More than 1,800 people have been arrested since the disorder broke out last July, following the murder of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice
da Silva Aguiar at a children’s Taylor Swift dance class.
False information about the supposed perpetrator of the attack spread quickly across social media as the country reeled from shock.
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The Home Affairs Committee report published today says this situation demonstrated why guidance for police on identifying suspects is badly out of date.
It reveals how police forces scrambled to work out how much they could reveal about the true suspect, Axel Rudakubana, without jeopardising the trial.
By the time Merseyside Police told the public the fake name ‘Ali-Al-Shakati’ was incorrect the day after the attack, social media posts featuring that information had been seen around 27 million times.
Such posts were among the factors that agitated rioters into targeting local mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers soon afterwards.
The report states it ‘cannot be determined whether the disorder
could have been prevented had more information been published’, but that the vacuum meant ‘misinformation was able to grow’.
Contempt of court laws in the UK limit how much detail can be released about a suspect, so a jury can make their decision based purely on what is told to them in court during a trial.
But according to the Home Affairs Committee, the protocol relied upon last summer was first published in October 2005 – around six months before Twitter was created.
Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy told MPs about a 90-minute discussion she had with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) over whether she could reveal the suspect came from a Christian background.
In the meantime, anti-Muslim hate and rumours continued to rip across social media.
The committee recommended the CPS ‘publish its new media protocol as soon as possible and keep this updated at least every five years or earlier if there is a significant change to the media landscape’.
Committee chair Dame Karen Bradley said: ‘It is a grim reality that bad actors sought to exploit the unspeakable tragedy that unfolded in Southport.
‘By failing to disclose information to the public, false claims filled the gap and flourished online, further undermining confidence in the police and public authorities.
‘The criminal justice system will need to ensure its approach to communication is fit for the social media age. ‘
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