LONDON – Thousands of riot police stood ready Wednesday as Britain remained on alert for disturbances during far-right protests across the country.
And far-right groups plan demonstrations Wednesday in more than 30 locations, with immigration lawyers and buildings hosting asylum seekers primary targets, according to posts on messaging app Telegram leaked to the British media.
The government has said 6,000 specialist police are on standby to deal with the disorder, which has seen more than 425 people arrested and at least 120 charged, according to latest police figures.
The violence broke out after girls aged nine, seven and six were killed and five more children critically injured during a knife attack at a Taylor Swift dance class in Southport, north west England.
False rumours initially spread on social media saying the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker. The suspect was later identified as 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, born in Wales. UK media reported that his parents are from Rwanda.
Despite the police statement, initial disturbances in Southport centred around a mosque, and widespread violence has rocked England and Northern Ireland since.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer late Tuesday warned anyone involved would face “the full force of the law”, including those inciting violence online.
Starmer, a former chief state prosecutor, said he expected “substantive sentencing before the end of this week” for the rioters.
“That should send a very powerful message to anybody involved, either directly or online,” he added in televised comments.
The unrest, Britain’s worst since the 2011 London riots, has led a number of countries to warn citizens about travelling in Britain.
Rioting in several cities has seen demonstrators throw bricks and flares at police officers, burn cars and attack mosques and at least two hotels that have been used for asylum seekers.
Scores of alleged perpetrators were hauled before judges on Tuesday, with some entering guilty pleas.
A 19-year-old man became the first person to receive a prison sentence for the unrest when he was jailed for two months, PA Media reported.
Another man was convicted after he admitted assaulting a police officer outside a hotel for asylum seekers in Rotherham, northern England, on Sunday.
A 15-year-old boy pleaded guilty to committing violent disorder in Liverpool on Saturday after he was identified from a TikTok video. A man in Leeds admitted posting threatening words on Facebook to stir up racial hatred.
The government, only one month old, has vowed to take a tough line on the unrest.
Starmer said “99.9% of people across the country want their streets to be safe and to feel safe in their communities, and we will take all necessary action to bring the disorder to an end.”
Justice minister Heidi Alexander told BBC radio that the government had freed up an extra 500 prison places.
Police have blamed the disorder on people associated with the now-defunct English Defence League (EDL), a far-right Islamophobic organisation founded 15 years ago, whose supporters have been linked to football hooliganism.
EDL founder Tommy Robinson has been blamed by authorities for stoking tensions, and police in Cyprus, where he was reported to be on holiday, said Wednesday they were ready to assist UK police if needed.
However, Robinson later wrote on the X social media platform: “Lucky I’m not in Cyprus then”.
The rallies have been advertised on far-right social media channels under the banner “Enough is enough”.
Interior minister Yvette Cooper said that social media has put a “rocket booster” under the violence.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk escalated a dispute with the UK government Tuesday by likening Britain to “the Soviet Union”. A spokesperson for Starmer had said there was “no justification” for Musk’s earlier comment that a British “civil war is inevitable”. – AFP
