Riots could break out across the UK this summer as the effects of the coronavirus pandemic take hold, a scientific adviser to the Government has warned.
Professor Clifford Stott said there is a risk of disorder on a scale last seen during the London riots in August 2011 sparked by the police shooting of Mark Duggan.
He said urgent efforts must be made by police forces to quell any potential unrest in the neighbourhoods they serve. The member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) sub-committee on behaviour said mass job losses and rising unemployment due to coronavirus, as well as concerns about racial and economic inequality, may all be factors which could fuel "confrontations" in the coming months.