Koon Yew Yin, 14th Aug 2024

Riots have spread across numerous cities and towns in England, and in Belfast in Northern Ireland, over the last week in the worst outbreak of civil disorder in Britain for 13 years. Police have made 378 arrests since anti-immigrant and far-right unrest erupted after the killing of three young girls in Southport in north-west England last Monday.

What has sparked the violence?

Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, were killed in a multiple stabbing at a Taylor Swift-inspired dance class in Southport on 29 July. Eight other children sustained knife wounds with five left in a critical condition. Two adults were also critically hurt.

Axel Rudakubana, 17, who was born in Cardiff and had been living in Banks, a village in Lancashire a few miles north of Southport, has been charged with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder. 

Before the suspect’s identity was confirmed, false claims proliferated online that he was a Muslim asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat. In the wake of these messages, members of the far right – guided by social media – have gathered in towns and cities across the country with some shouting anti-immigration and Islamophobic slogans. Counter-protests have also built up with clashes between opposing groups.

Where are the riots taking place?

Hundreds of rioters descended on the seaside town of Southport last Tuesday, where people were still grieving, barely 36 hours after the three girls were killed. More than 50 police officers were injured in the clashes, which targeted a mosque a short walk from the scene of the atrocity.

The next day, disturbances spread to London, Manchester in north-west England, Hartlepool in the north-east, and Aldershot in the south. The disorder continued over the weekend with clashes on Saturday across England in Liverpool, Blackpool, Hull, Stoke-on-Trent, Leeds, Nottingham and Bristol, and also in Belfast in Northern Ireland.

On Sunday, rioters tried to set fire to a hotel housing asylum seekers in the South Yorkshire town of Rotherham and attacked police officers. Later, in Tamworth, Staffordshire, a similar incident played out at a Holiday Inn Express hotel, where reports suggested asylum seekers were also being housed, with fires, smashed windows and missiles thrown at officers. In the north-eastern town of Middlesbrough, rioters smashed the windows of houses and cars and hurled objects at officers.

How many people have been involved?

Thousands of people have taken part in disorder and counter-protests. The National Police Chiefs’ Council said 378 people have been arrested in the past week.

Writing in the Times, the UK home secretary Yvette Cooper said officers were still reviewing footage to identify “those throwing missiles, setting fires, looting shops, and attacking innocent motorists and passersby.”

Several suspects have already appeared in court charged with offences including violent disorder, affray, assault and burglary. One judge described scenes of violence in Belfast as “absolutely disgraceful” as he refused bail to two men accused of taking part in disorder that followed an anti-immigration gathering in the city on Saturday.

What has the reaction been?

Some public figures have been accused of spreading misinformation and whipping up tensions between communities following the Southport killings. Andrew Tate, the British-American misogynist influencer, falsely claimed the attacker was an “illegal migrant” and told people to “wake up”.

The UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, warned on Monday that anyone “whipping up violence online” would face the full force of the law. The prime minister’s spokesperson said there was “no justification” for comments made by Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, who said “civil war is inevitable” after the rioting.

Experts have said Musk’s decision to allow figures such as the British far-right activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, back on to X has played a part in the spread of online disinformation. On Sunday, Robinson, who is on holiday abroad, posted footage of the Rotherham hotel attack on X, saying: “When British people are ignored and labelled ‘far-right’ … something has to happen.”

What is the UK government doing?

Starmer, a former director of public prosecutions, chaired an emergency meeting with police chiefs and ministers on Monday morning. It followed his televised address to the nation on Sunday in which he vowed that rioters would “regret” engaging in “far-right thuggery”.

Cooper has said the courts are on “standby” to ensure “swift justice” and the Home Office has brought in urgent measures to make sure mosques are offered extra protection.

Several countries including Nigeria, Malaysia and Indonesia have issued safety warnings to their citizens in the UK due to the riots.