Riots following Southport attack were considered for emergency alerts

Southport and Liverpool saw fires and looting in the days that following the attack

The government considered using the emergency alerts system when riots broke out, it has been revealed. The alert system was launched in 2023 and is used to warn the public of danger to life in their area by sending a loud siren-like sound and message to mobile phones.

A freedom of information (FOI) request submitted to the Cabinet Office by the Press Association has revealed a list of “near misses” where alerts were considered but not used. This included the riots which followed the Southport attack in July 2024, which saw three schoolgirls killed at a Taylor Swift-themed workshop.

Government analysis found last month the riots were “largely instigated” by far-right groups. The violence, which started in Southport the day after the attack, quickly spread across the north of England and saw mosques, community centres and libraries attacked, while hotels housing asylum seekers were also targeted.

The FOI release stated: “The following situations represent ‘near misses’ where the Cabinet Office has considered the use of the Emergency Alerts capability, which was ultimately stood down.

“The use of emergency alerts was considered during the disorder and unrest which occurred across the UK throughout August 2024.”

In another case, an alert to issue a “boil notice” to 40,000 people in the Brixham area of Devon was considered after reports of contaminated drinking water were giving residents severe sickness and diarrhoea.

The outbreak in May 2024 left some people in hospital and hundreds of others ill after contamination of the water supply by the parasite cryptosporidium.

Also among the list of “near miss” alerts that were never sent were concerns that debris from a Chinese Zhuque-3 space rocket weighing 11 tonnes could have hit the UK upon entering the atmosphere.

The Cabinet Office said there was a “very low probability” of impact on UK soil but that an alert was considered “due to the size of the debris, which was larger than usual”.

The debris ended up crashing into Earth some 1,200 miles south of New Zealand in January 2026.

In September 2025, the Kilroot power station in Northern Ireland approached its running limit of 1,500 hours per year under environmental legislation.

The Cabinet Office was made aware of the possibility of power outages and considered using an emergency alert.

The alerts were also considered for severe weather events across the UK, including the widespread flooding in Cumbria, Lancashire and Greater Manchester in 2025 and when Storm Babet brought exceptional rainfall and winds to Scotland and the North East of England in 2023.

A government spokesperson told PA: “As the public rightly expects, the government actively considers how to respond to a wide range of potential events.

“The Emergency Alerts system is a vital public safety tool designed to be used sparingly. Its activation threshold is very high and strictly reserved for threats to life.”