Ban English Defence League under Terrorism Act, Humza Yousaf urges

Humza Yousaf has called on the Home Secretary to ban the English Defence League (EDL) under the Terrorism Act.

The former first minister, who brought in anti-hate crime laws in Scotland during his time as justice secretary, has written to Yvette Cooper in the wake of riots in Southport, Merseyside.

Three children were killed in a knife attack at a dance school in the English town which left several others in a critical condition.

A 17-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder and remains in custody and the incident is not being treated as terror-related.

Later violence broke out on the streets, with around 50 police officers injured amidst riots in which a mosque was attacked after social media posts wrongly linked the knife attack to Islam.

Merseyside Police said protesters were "believed to be supporters of" the EDL and local MP Patrick Hurley said "thugs" had travelled to the grief-stricken town to use the deaths of the girls - six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine - "for their own political purposes".

Home Secretary Cooper, who had warned against disinformation, said the rioters had "no respect for a grieving community".

Now Yousaf has called for the UK Government to proscribe the EDL.

In a letter to Cooper, he said: "It is time we took on the English Defence League and the evil ideology that drives them".

Yousaf said the girls' deaths was "devastating and senseless" and "every parent's worst nightmare".

He said: "Amidst the grief we all feel, there is also anger. Anger that a group of far-right bigots chose to hijack the killing of children for their own nefarious purposes."

Stating that the EDL meets the criteria for proscription under anti-terror laws, he said it had "orchestrated serious violence" and is "driven by a racist, white supremacist ideology".

Yousaf wrote: "Home Secretary, Britain has a far-right problem.

"We need to acknowledge it, confront it and deal with it. You are in the unique position to tackle this insidious problem.

"Proscribing the English Defence League, and therefore making membership of the organisation a criminal offence, would send an unequivocally strong signal of your intent to take on the far-right and their racist and Islamophobic ideology."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "We do not comment on whether a specific organisation is or is not being considered for proscription."