'Only way to deal with it!' UK’s most senior police officer supports sharing more details about suspects with public earlier

It follows the controversial decision of Merseyside Police to reveal the suspect arrested on suspicion of ramming a car into crowds at Liverpool's victory parade was a white British man.

That decision raised questions over whether the police would be as willing to put details around ethnicity in public if the suspect was not white British.

But speaking on the BBC this morning, Rowley said: "In general, I think we have to be realistic and more often put more personal details in the public earlier.

"If it creates all sorts of practical problems ... but we're in such an age of citizen journalism, people have screenshots, phones.

"Some content will be all over social media very quickly. People will be making guesses and inferences.

"I think in that world, putting more facts out is the only way to deal with it.

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"And if those facts generate or embolden racists in some cases, then we need to confront those individuals.

"I think trying to avoid truths when half the truth is in the public domain is going to be quite difficult going forward."

Speaking to GB News yesterday, Eamonn Holmes asked Phillipson if the police’s prompt response in Liverpool was partly due to the problems that occurred in July last year when Axel Rudakubana carried out a killing spree in Southport.

He asked: “What lessons did you learn from Southport?”

She responded: “There’s an inquiry that will take place into Southport, a range of questions will be asked.

“I wouldn’t want to preempt that inquiry.”

During a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Merseyside Police Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims gave an update on how the incident unfolded.

She said: "It is believed the driver of the Ford Galaxy car involved in this incident was able to follow an ambulance onto Water Street after the road block was temporarily lifted so that the ambulance crew could attend to a member of the public who was having a suspected heart attack.

"As with many large events, with event organisers we planned for all contingencies and this included the implementation of road closures to protect pedestrians and an armed policing presence was also in place throughout the day.

"There was no intelligence to suggest an incident of this nature would take place, and as we previously stated, the incident is not being treated as terrorism.

"An extensive investigation into the precise circumstances of the incident is ongoing and we continue to ask people not to speculate on the circumstances surrounding the incident and refrain from sharing distressing content online."