A Metropolitan Police training exercise in Kent has featured a person portraying a rioter wearing a Union Jack flag on their arm.
The public order training scenario took place at the force's Specialist Training Centre in Gravesend, Kent.
The exercise comes in the wake of last summer's violent disorder that erupted across England following the Southport stabbings.
Video footage of the training shows officers in specialist gear facing individuals portraying rioters, with one participant clearly displaying a British flag on their clothing.
The footage was posted on social media
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Clashes broke out in Southport just a day after the stabbings
Patrick Hurst/PAFormer MP Douglas Carswell wrote on social media: "As mass immigration turns Britain into a third world country, the state starts to regard native Brits as the problem to be managed/suppressed."
A Met Police spokesman told GB News: "This video shows a public order training exercise at the Metropolitan Police's Specialist Training Centre in Gravesend.
"The scenarios used in the training are entirely fictional. Those participating aren't given any particular political or other affiliation."
The spokesman added that "the fact one of the training staff is wearing a t-shirt with a union flag on is entirely coincidental.
"It is disappointing we are increasingly having to challenge this sort of of misinformation which only serves to increase divisions and tensions."
Riot police hold back protesters after disorder broke out in SouthportGetty
Glass smashed at the West Melton Hotel in Rotherham
PAThe training exercises are designed to prepare officers for a range of public disorder situations they might face.
Such training has taken on renewed importance following the widespread riots that occurred across England last summer.
Police forces nationwide have been reviewing their public order response capabilities since those events.
Last summer's riots were sparked by misinformation following a tragic attack in Southport where three children were stabbed to death at a dance party.
False claims spread rapidly online about the attacker's identity, wrongly suggesting he was a Muslim migrant.
Parliament's Home Affairs Committee found that "limits on disclosing details of criminal investigations created an information vacuum that allowed disinformation to flourish."
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Emergency services at the scene in Southport following the stabbing
PA
Rioting broke out across the UK following a knife attack in Southport in JulyGB News
Mounted police officers patrol outside Southport Islamic Centre Mosque in SouthportPAThe attacker, Axel Rudakubana, was actually the British-born son of Rwandan Christian parents. A tweet falsely identifying the attacker was viewed by millions before police could correct the misinformation.
Conservative MP for Staffordshire Moorlands Karen Bradley noted that "bad actors sought to exploit the unspeakable tragedy that unfolded in Southport."
The committee concluded police struggled to monitor the volume of content on social media. The riots saw crowds attacking locations linked to migrants and asylum-seekers, as well as mosques and food banks.
Windows were smashed and fires set at a Holiday Inn Express near Rotherham reportedly used to accommodate asylum seekers.
Mark Rowley lamented the rulingLONDON ASSEMBLYMetropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley described those behind the violence as "largely racially motivated criminal thugs".
Data revealed that 62 per cent of those arrested in London had previous convictions for violent offences.
"The vast majority of them are criminals with a violent history," Rowley said.
He added: "They don't look an average bunch of citizens to me, they're basically largely a bunch of racially motivated criminal thugs."
