Lawyers urge Starmer to ensure safety of advice centres over far-right threat

Lawyers have called on ministers to address serious concerns about their safety after it emerged far-right groups were planning to target immigration advice centres in the coming days.

The Law Society and Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA) said their members were at risk, after a list of 60 immigration centres was circulated on Telegram with a message suggesting they should be the target of protests on Wednesday.

Politicians such as Labour MPs Stella Creasy and Sarah Sackman also raised concerns about immigration advice centres being named in their constituencies of Walthamstow and Finchley, saying they were in touch with police about the safety of residents.

It came as police chiefs said an extra 2,200 riot-trained officers would be deployed to combat the violence that has erupted across England and Northern Ireland since last week, police chiefs announced on Tuesday.

Police chiefs have decided to dramatically increase the number of riot officers deployed, with violence continuing on Monday, and more events planned on Tuesday.

They are also braced for potentially 30 different demonstrations planned for Wednesday evening, and are assessing the credibility of an online document listing targets, many of which are connected to immigration and asylum.

Almost 4,000 riot officers have already been deployed across England and Wales. Some faced violence in their own force area, and some were sent to help out other forces that were under strain over the weekend.

In total there are 18,000 specially trained public order or riot officers in England and Wales. The decision to increase the number deployed means 30% of the total will be deployed. A police source said the number would be adjusted up or down, as the situation develops. Preparations were under way to deal with more trouble on Tuesday and Wednesday.

More than 400 arrests have so far been made and the police source said while some of the violence was planned, a lot of those joining in were local people who decided to participate when they heard about the disorder.

Immigration lawyers have previously raised concerns about Conservative politicians from Boris Johnson to Suella Braverman whipping up feelings against “lefty lawyers” working for clients on asylum applications.

The targeting of immigration and advice centres for anti-immigration protests comes after days of far-right rioting, with hotels housing asylum seekers attacked and violence in the streets.

Nick Emmerson, the president of the Law Society of England and Wales,, said the legal body had “serious concerns about the safety and wellbeing of our members following names and addresses of a number of solicitors’ firms and advice agencies being shared on a list of targets for further protest and violence this week”.

Emmerson said he had written to Keir Starmer, the prime minister, Shabana Mahmood, the lord chancellor, and Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, asking that the threats against the legal profession were treated with the utmost seriousness.

“A direct assault on our legal profession is a direct assault on our democratic values and we are supporting our members who are being targeted,” he said.

Hazar El-Chamaa, the chair of trustees at the ILPA, said the group stood in solidarity with migrants and called on the government to support lawyers performing their professional duties by “representing and upholding the human rights of migrants and those targeted based on their appearance, without fear for our safety”.

“Where our security is threatened as a result of carrying out our essential and proper function in a democracy, the government and law enforcement agencies should investigate and monitor threats to our safety,” the letter said.

“We urge Sir Keir Starmer’s government to take urgent steps to bring an end to the violence and to foster a society which welcomes and cares for our communities and all those in need of protection. We call on the government to stand with us.”

Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, said it sickened her that far-right rioters would think they could create division in her constituency. “One of the reasons such lists is put together is to stoke fear,” she said, and appealed to residents to show the best of Walthamstow by responding calmly and peacefully.

Sackman, the solicitor general, said on X that the planned targeting of a centre in her constituency was “disgusting” and urged people to remain “calm and vigilant”.