Police ready in case of more riots, minister insists

Eleven police officers were injured during rioting in Hull on Saturday

Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson said forces were ready if there were further disturbances following violence across England last week.

Ms Johnson was in Hull meeting officers from Humberside Police who faced rioters in the city on Saturday.

Speaking to BBC Look North, Dame Diana said police were assessing "the intelligence that's coming forward about what may happen in the next few days".

"The police are ready," she said.

"They have the numbers. We know that they have the powers that they need if they need to have dispersal orders or exclusion zones."

The MP for Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham dismissed accusations of "two-tier policing" in the way that rioters were dealt with.

"I won't have any truck with that," she said.

"The police in this country act without fear or favour. They keep us safe in our communities.

"What they have just faced in the last few days on the streets of Britain, I think it's irresponsible to use this idea of two-tier policing."

Dame Diana Johnson said people were "disseminating information and misinformation" on social media

Dame Diana said that on the issue of immigration people were "entitled to different views".

"What they're not entitled to do, and what we saw last weekend, [is] for the extremists to come out on our streets and to attack the police, to loot shops," she said.

"That's nothing to do with immigration and a proper debate that, of course, we must have. That's to do with criminal behaviour, and we're not going to tolerate it."

Shops in Hull city centre were looted and set on fire during the violence

Dame Diana raised concerns about people "disseminating information and misinformation" on social media.

She added: "If things are posted on those platforms that are illegal, inciting racial hatred or inciting people to violence, they need to be taken down and social media companies are under a legal obligation to do that now."

Eleven police officers were injured during the violence in Hull.

"They were very brave, very courageous when they were faced with the level of criminality and disorder and violence last weekend in Hull," Dame Diana said.

"We support the police in what they are doing and we're going to hold those people to account who were attacking the police last weekend."

Her comments came on the day the first three people were convicted for their part in the Hull disturbances.

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