MI6 'needs more power' to tackle Russian troll farms as fake Southport claims spark riots

MI6 should be given “more power” to tackle misinformation spread by hostile states in the wake of national riots, the Government’s adviser on political violence has warned.

John Woodcock, a former Labour MP and now Lord Walney, said “troll factories” in countries like Russia and Iran create pretend profiles of Brits online to share false information and provoke disorder on our streets. Misinformation about the suspected Southport attacker has triggered widespread demonstrations with far-right extremists seizing on the false claims.

One fake news account spreading a false name of the suspect was reportedly linked to Russia. Incorrect claims about the alleged Southport attacker, including that he is Muslim and/or arrived illegally on a small boat, have been amplified on social media since the attack on Monday.

Lord Walney, who published a major review on political violence just before the election was called, said the intelligence services - which consist of MI6, MI5 and GCHQ - need more resources to help play their part in tackling the issue too. “We've seen now that the likes of Russia and Iran in particular employ these troll factories where I mean you basically have divisions of men and women state employees behind screens, running multiple accounts, pretending basically to be Brits of various persuasions, they might be pretending to be far left or far got Brits,” he told the Mirror.

“I made a key recommendation in my review to give the intelligence services more power, more capability, to crack down on the way that hostile states are seizing on every incident to create misinformation and to fan the flames of British extreme actors.” Intelligence services would then be able to request social media firms take down dangerous accounts they identify.

Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson confirmed the threat of foreign state actors "will certainly be discussed and debated and looked at by the Government". She said Technology Secretary Peter Kyle has been in conversation with social media firms since the disorder started because of the spiralling misinformation on their platforms.

Asked if the Government has evidence that misinformation is being amplified online by hostile foreign agents, Dame Diana told Sky News: "That's certainly an issue that's been raised and we know that that has been discussed previously about hostile foreign states and wanting to do harm to promote community cohesion in this country. So that that will certainly be discussed and debated and looked at by the Government."

Dozens of arrests were made on Saturday after multiple towns and cities saw clashes between anti-immigration demonstrators and counter-protesters. There was violence on Saturday in towns and cities such as Hull, Liverpool, Stoke-on-Trent, Nottingham, Bristol, Manchester, Blackpool and Belfast which saw several police officers attacked and injured.

The string of violent incidents over the past few days began on Tuesday in Southport, after three girls were killed in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club. Axel Rudakubana, who was born in Cardiff, was charged with murdering the three girls. He was also charged with 10 counts of attempted murder after eight other children and two adults were seriously injured in the attack.