United Kingdom leader Keir Starmer will hold an emergency response meeting on Monday after further far-right riots broke out across England over the weekend following the murder of three children last week.
The prime minister will chair a Cobra meeting, which will bring together ministers and the police to discuss how to quell the violence that first broke out in Southport, north west England, on Tuesday, and has now seen hundreds of people arrested.
The town was the scene of last Monday’s tragedy, in which three young girls were killed and five more children critically injured during a knife attack as they attended a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
Other riots have broken out in towns and cities across the country, with anti-immigration demonstrators facing off against police, and Muslim counter-protesters in some instances.
Starmer warned far-right rioters on Sunday they would “regret” participating in England’s worst rioting in 13 years, as disturbances linked to the three children’s murder earlier this week flared across the country.
Police have blamed the violence on supporters and associated organizations of the English Defence League, an anti-Islam organization founded 15 years ago, whose supporters have been linked to football hooliganism.
Masked anti-immigration demonstrators smashed several windows at a hotel that has been used to house asylum seekers in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.
Unrest related to misinformation about last Monday’s mass stabbing in the northwestern English seaside town of Southport has hit multiple towns and cities, with anti-immigration demonstrators clashing with police.
The violence is a major challenge for Starmer, elected only a month ago after leading Labour to a landslide win over the Conservatives.
Shops looted, burnt
Footage aired on the BBC showed rioters forcing their way into a Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham. They also pushed a burning bin into the building. It was not clear whether asylum seekers were inside.
Ten officers were injured there, but local police said none of the hotel staff or its clients had been hurt.
In the northeastern English city of Middlesbrough, hundreds of protesters squared up to riot police carrying shields. Some threw bricks, cans and pots at officers.
Protesters there seized a camera from an AFP crew and broke it. The journalists were not injured.
The fresh disturbances came after police said more than 150 people had been arrested since Saturday following skirmishes at far-right rallies in Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Blackpool and Hull, as well as Belfast in Northern Ireland.
The violence is the worst England has seen since the summer of 2011, when widespread rioting followed the police killing of a mixed-race man in north London.
Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious leaders in Liverpool issued a joint appeal for calm.
Late Sunday, Staffordshire police said another hotel known to have sheltered asylum seekers was targeted near Birmingham.
‘Wake-up call’
Protesters were fueled by false rumours on social media about the background of British-born 17-year-old suspect Axel Rudakubana, who is accused of killing a six-, seven- and nine-year-old, and injuring another 10 people.
Agitators have targeted at least two mosques, and the UK Interior Ministry announced Sunday it was offering new emergency security to Islamic places of worship.
Anti-fascist demonstrators have held counter-rallies in many cities.
Not all the gatherings have turned violent. A peaceful one in Aldershot, southern England, on Sunday saw participants hold placards that read “Stop the invasion” and “We’re not far right, we’re just right.”
At last month’s election, the Reform UK party led by Brexit cheerleader Nigel Farage captured 14% of the vote – one of the largest vote shares for a far-right British party.
Paul Barker and Peter Hutchinson, with AFP
