UK protests latest: Keir Starmer calls out ‘far-right thuggery’ on streets after Rotherham hotel attacked

Turning to Scotland, where the First Minister John Swinney has warned against the “unhelpful speculation” surrounding the identity of a man who allegedly stabbed a 21-year-old woman in the central Scottish city of Stirling on Saturday.

She was treated in hospital for “non-life threatening” injuries, and a 29-year old man has been arrested.

However, social media rumours, promoted by EDL founder Tommy Robinson, suggested the attacker was Muslim.

Police Scotland have said these claims are false, and in quite an unusual move for the force, have confirmed the man arrested is white and from the local area.

Swinney says the incident is “isolated”, but his predecessor, Humza Yousaf is now urging PM Keir Starmer to call in the army to try and quell some of the violence we’re seeing in places like Rotherham.

He wrote on X: “How much worse does it have to get before the army is sent in Keir Starmer? The police clearly do not have a handle on this situation”.