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

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer says that authorities "have to stay on high alert going into this weekend", amid fears of further far-right riots in English towns and cities.

Speaking at a visit to a Metropolitan Police control room in London, Starmer says the online sphere "is not a law-free zone", after misinformation spread on social media further fuelled unrest in recent days.

Starmer said the work by the criminal justice system in recent days, including judges swiftly handing down lengthy jail sentences to some rioters, had acted as a deterrent to more violence.

His comments came after two nights of relative quiet across England, after a week of near nightly unrest in more than a dozen towns and cities in the wake of a deadly knife attack that killed three children.