Boris Johnson’s spokesman has branded the astonishing scenes of protesters and police clashing in the US as “very alarming”.
The protests were prompted by the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died last week in police after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes.
The US continues to be gripped by unrest while his death has prompted public figures and organisations from the worlds of arts and entertainment to take part in a “blackout” on Tuesday.
“The violence which we're seeing is clearly very alarming,” said the Prime Minister’s official spokesman of the disorder in US cities. “As we said yesterday, people must be allowed to protest peacefully.”
The PM’s spokesman was careful not to blame either side or to condemn US police or Donald Trump outright.
Asked if it would be right for the President to carry out his plan to send in the US Army, the PM’s official spokesman (PMOS) said: “Those sorts of questions are obviously a matter for the authorities in the US. I would just repeat that the scenes we are seeing are alarming and people must be allowed to protest peacefully.”
Asked if the same message of alarm was being passed to the White House by the UK government, PMOS said: “I don't know what discussions we've, we've had, if any with the US directly.”
Speaking at the White House on Monday, Mr Trump described himself as the “president of law and order” and threatened to deploy the military if state governors did not halt ongoing violent protests across the United States.
Asked for the Prime Minister’s views about an incident in the US where people were reportedly tear gassed by police near a church, the spokesman repeated the line.
Shortly before Mr Trump made an address to the nation, police officers dispersed thousands of protesters by reportedly firing tear gas and using flash bangs.
When reporters asked if Britain’s pleas to China not to stop protest in Hong Kong was being undermined by the US action, the PMOS said the Government’s position was clear , which was that China “must continue to meet existing obligations and we will continue to work with international partners for the rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong.”
