Thugs hijacked Southport and families' grief, MP says

"Thugs" who travelled to Southport to use the deaths of three children "for their own political purposes" were to blame for the violence that saw dozens of police officers injured, the town's MP has said. Unrest broke out in the Merseyside town hours after a vigil to honour the victims of Monday's knife attack at a dance school in which three young girls were killed and eight other children injured.Patrick Hurley said the disturbance close to a mosque, which saw officers pelted with bricks and a police van set on fire, had been "horrific".Merseyside Police Federation's Chris McGlade said more than 50 police officers were hurt in a "sustained and vicious attack".Merseyside Police said the violence was believed to have involved English Defence League supporters.Mr Hurley told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the "riot" was "led by people from outside the town".He said the "thugs who had got the train in" had used the "deaths of three little kiddies for their own political purposes". Mr McGl...