Latest news with #Taylor-Swift
Daily Mirror
27-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
Liverpool crash suspect's details and ethnicity were released unusually early
More information was released about the man arrested in connection with a car ploughing into crowds at Liverpool FC's title winning celebrations than what's usually expected Liverpool: Moment suspect is led away from the scene Liverpool's victory parade was thrown into disarray yesterday when a driver ploughed into the crowds, leaving dozens of people injured. And following the incident at 6pm, Merseyside Police was quick to state that "a 53-year-old white British man from the Liverpool area" had been arrested. Police forces normally confirm the age of the suspect, as well as the road where they live. But within two hours of this incident, the Liverpool force shared the man's nationality and ethnicity too. The reason? A previous high-profile incident which led to harmful online disinformation. Last summer's devastating Southport attacks saw Axel Rudakubana, then 17, murder young schoolgirls Alice da Silva Aguiar, Bebe King and Elsie Dot Stancombe as they attended a Taylor-Swift themed holiday club event. And as the news broke of the horror incident, online speculation and disinformation quickly grew out of control about the young suspect having a Muslim name and being a newly-arrived migrant. Within 36 hours, the local mosque in Southport was attacked and rioting subsequently spread across England, mostly aimed at hotels housing recently-arrived asylum seekers. The online speculation had been false - Rudakubana was born in the UK and had no direct links to Islamism. Following the latest high-profile incident, Merseyside Police was quick to dampen speculation on social media that the Ford Galaxy driving into Liverpool fans was part of an Islamist terrorist attack, nor was it linked to newly arrived migrants in the country. Liverpool mayor Steve Rotheram said the force had acted "very, very quickly" to stamp out any disinformation that could have caused "real consternation". In a report into the Southport attacks released earlier this year, His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services said the police service should "fill the information void with the truth". "Forces must provide a true narrative online to reach people who may be searching for information", it read. "The police service must communicate the facts," the report explained. "Repeatedly, continuously and effectively as circumstances change and develop. "If not, others will take over the narrative with overwhelming amounts of online content. "And some of this may be false or harmful to the police response and the communities the police are there to protect." But as the BBC wrote today, while Merseyside Police's communications team were quick to gain control of the narrative this time around, different circumstances could prove more complex to manage. "What will a force do for example if the information about the suspect they are holding is unclear?," its report said. "Even more problematically, what will a force do if they arrest someone in similar circumstances who is a recently arrived migrant or who has a clearly Muslim name?" "There will be times when police can confirm quickly," said Helen King, former assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. "There are other times when it is unclear. These will always be complex and sensitive decisions."
Telegraph
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Starmer axes political violence tsar who backed climate protests crackdown
Sir Keir Starmer has axed the Government's political violence tsar who had called for tougher powers to tackle extremists behind climate change and anti-Israel protests. The Home Office is scrapping the post held by Lord Walney, whose responsibilities will be transferred to a new expanded commissioner for counter-extremism role as part of a wider overhaul of how protest and extremism are monitored by the Home Office. Lord Walney was appointed as the UK Government's independent adviser on political violence and disruption by former prime minister Boris Johnson. He has been a target of protesters himself, who have blamed him for a police crackdown that has led to the imprisonment of more than 50 Just Stop Oil and Palestine Action demonstrators. 'Noble causes hijacked by extremist groups' The former Labour MP recently warned that far-Left groups, particularly those involved in climate change protests and anti-Israeli movements, were a danger to the rule of law. 'Noble causes such as the battle against climate change have been hijacked by extremist groups, determined to bypass democratic norms and cause maximum destruction to society,' he said. In a wide-ranging report drawn up last May for ministers, Lord Walney proposed police should get new powers to ban protests that were likely to intimidate and disrupt communities. Chief constables would be able to block marches due to the 'cumulative' disruption and 'persistent' threats to public order caused by protests. Under his plans, police forces would also be allowed to impose conditions on protests and limit their frequency if they judged that it was diverting too many officers away from fighting crime in local communities. In a post on X reacting to the scrapping of his role, Lord Walney urged ministers to adopt his proposals and show 'they understand the depth of the public's contempt for activists who unlawfully disrupt their lives and cause criminal damage to get their way.' He added: 'The forthcoming crime and policing bill is an important opportunity to give police forces greater ability to balance the right to protest with the cumulative harm that weekly demonstrations can cause to communities and the huge drain on police resources at a time [when] they are already overstretched.' Islamist and far-Right extremism biggest UK threats Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, ordered a 'sprint' review of the Government's counter-extremism strategy after the summer riots sparked by the murders of three young girls at a Taylor-Swift themed dance class in Southport. However, she rejected key parts of a leaked version of the review which said that the approach to tackling extremism should no longer be based on specific ideologies such as Islamism or the far-Right but 'on behaviours and activity of concern.' She maintained that Islamist extremism, followed by far-Right extremism, remained the biggest threats the UK faced and the focus of the UK's counter-extremism strategy. Lord Walney is understood to have been assured that ministers are considering his key proposals. A Home Office spokesman said: 'His work will continue to inform our approach as we move forward to assess the complex challenges facing our country. 'We want to thank Lord Walney for his dedicated work as Independent Adviser and his vital contribution to the UK Government's understanding of political violence and disruption.'
