Sir Keir Starmer needs to be wary of far right terrorist groups and Russian agents exploiting riots

The new Prime Minister might even be able to take a holiday, as the country appears to start to move back to normal after a violent and destructive 10 days.

The big test for police will be the return of the football season over the next two weekends, with patrols stepped up and clubs ready to ban convicted fans.

Sir Keir said that officers and forces should remain on “high alert”. However, the Prime Minister should be under no illusion that the issues are solved.

Sharks are circling and seeking to exploit the chaos and disinformation which has festered into a summer of discontent.

Philip Ingram, a military intelligence expert who spent 26 years in the British Army as a Colonel at Catterick, believes that right-wing terror groups and Russian bot farms are looking to capitalise on the disinformation.

“These individuals who we are seeing around the place are groups of thugs, they’re not necessarily linked to what people are looking at from a national terror perspective,” he told the Yorkshire Post.

“That’s why what we’re not seeing is more use of weapons and explosives and other terror mechanisms on the ground. We haven’t seen any murders yet, but it’s only a matter of time before this sort of unrest gets exploited. 

“Terror groups and individuals involved see the opportunity to get in there and start to galvanise these individuals and bring them in as a level of support.”

Mr Ingram explained that in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s, the IRA capitalised on protests and riots to groom support which led to the Troubles.

“A similar thing is happening today in England,” he said. The Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkison said on Wednesday that one case involving the riots was being considered for terrorism charges. 

Also getting involved, unsurprisingly, are the Russians. “Activists from overseas are deliberately stirring up things because they can see how it’s causing discontent across the UK,” Mr Ingram explained.

He cited one of the first myths that popped up about the Southport suspect, that he was on an MI6 watch list, as likely originating from a Russian bot farm.

“MI6 doesn’t have a watchlist, it’s MI5. That probably came from a Russian bot network using ChatGPT,” he said. “Behind all of this the Russians are laughing, they are helping to push the disinformation around. 

“They’re not causing it, but they are accelerating it, they’re acting as a catalyst. They just love it as it’s taking their attention away from Ukraine and the Middle East, they’ll keep stirring at that.”

Clearly the Prime Minister cannot afford to take his eye off the ball. Mr Ingram thinks we are “in for an autumn and winter of discontent” as well. It’s important that Sir Keir sticks to his word to stay vigilant.