WATCH: Keir Starmer holds emergency press conference after Southport stabbings and riots

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will hold a news conference at 4pm this afternoon after meeting with police leaders over 'incidents of extreme violence and public disorder on our streets' in recent days.

Starmer hit out at the 'mobs' responsible for violence in Southport and elsewhere in the country, including in London and Manchester, following the stabbings that killed three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party on Monday (July 29).

He will speak about the gathering with policing leaders and take questions from the media following the scenes of violent unrest in London, Hartlepool and Manchester last night.

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Rioters had first clashed with police in chaotic scenes in Southport on Tuesday, attacking officers, looting a store and setting a van on fire.

At the meeting in Downing Street, Sir Keir told police chiefs: “I wanted to send a message to each of you and through you, your officers, to say that this Government supports the police, supports what you are doing and to be absolutely clear: This is not protest, this is violent disorder and action will be taken.

“So, this Government will make sure you have got the powers you need and will back you in using those powers.”

A 17-year-old boy, named as Axel Rudakubana, has today appeared in court charged with three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article, in relation to the attack.

Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Bebe King, six, were fatally stabbed on Monday at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on Hart Street in Southport, Merseyside.

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Sir Keir today held an urgent meeting