Barrow and Furness MP fully supports dispersal order for 'Unity Rally'

The Labour MP said anyone involved in criminality at the planned peaceful Unity Rally outside the Spirit of Barrow statue on Dalton Road at noon would ‘face the full force of the law’.

It comes after Cumbria Police issued a dispersal order in Barrow for the town centre and surrounding areas between 10 am today until midnight.

The order provides police with additional powers to perform enhanced stop and search capabilities and the authority to order the removal of face coverings intended to disguise or conceal a person’s appearance.

Officers will also have the power to seize any item used in the commission of anti-social behaviour.

READ MORE: Dispersal order issued in Barrow town centre

In a statement posted on Facebook, Mrs Scrogham said: “I have been contacted by residents in the past week concerned at the suggestion that we might witness criminal disorder we have seen elsewhere in our country.

I am in touch with Cumbria Police and our Police Fire and Crime Commissioner and fully support the action they are taking to deal with any risk with a dispersal order. I'd like to pay tribute to them and all the emergency services who have been working in extremely difficult circumstances this week.

There can be no excuse for thuggery or the spreading of hate, be that on our streets or online. Anyone involved should be under no illusion that they will be dealt with swiftly and they will face the full force of the law.

The violence we have seen in our Country this week is not freedom of speech, or frustration at feeling unheard, it's a very deliberate action of a tiny minority intent on criminal disorder.

Communities around the Country have been coming together to clean up their streets, repair the mindless damage and look after each other.

These are the people that speak for us, they are our communities, those who care and support one another.”