UK takes advantage of demonstrations over murder of three children to move forward with facial screening

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the Labour prime minister, pledged that his government is working on a "wider rollout of facial recognition surveillance." The announcement followed demonstrations against the brutal attack that left three children murdered.   

Starmer maintained that at some protests in Southport over the killing of the minors, vandalism was reported. He also said he will take steps to protect the Muslim community in the UK following the demonstrations. 

"These thugs are mobile, they move from community to community. We must have a policing response that can do the same. Shared intelligence, wider deployment of facial recognition technology and preventive action, criminal behaviour orders to restrict their movements, before they can even board a train," Starmer said during a press conference. 

Protests in the U.K. began after three children were killed Monday and 11 people were injured, including nine children, in a knife attack at a dance school in Southport, northern England.

Police said they arrested a 17-year-old teenager as the alleged perpetrator of the attack in this town, located 20 km north of Liverpool. 

United Kingdom records an upsurge in incidents of knife violence. Some 50,000 such incidents were recorded last year, up 7% on 2022 and up nearly 100% in ten years, according to the national statistics office.