Anika Begay
By Kylie MacLellan and Catarina Demony
LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Tuesday that violent protesters who targeted Muslim communities would soon be punished “with the full force of the law” as he sought to quell days of anti-immigration riots.
The fatal stabbings of three teenage girls last week in the town of Southport in northwest England have been exploited by anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim groups, with misinformation spread online and amplified by high-profile far-right figures, to spark unrest in cities and towns.
“Whatever the apparent motivation, this is not a protest, this is pure violence and we will not tolerate attacks on mosques or our Muslim communities,” Starmer said on Monday after an emergency meeting with police and prison officials.
“All those identified as participants will be subject to the full force of the law.”
The violence erupted last Tuesday after social media posts claimed the alleged Southport attacker was a radical Islamist who had recently arrived in Britain and was known to intelligence agencies.
Police say the 17-year-old suspect was born in Britain and that the incident was not a terrorist incident.
Protests, mostly involving a few hundred people, continued across the country, with bricks thrown at police officers, shops looted, and mosques and Asian-owned businesses attacked. Cars were torched, and unverified videos on social media showed ethnic minorities being beaten.
Home Affairs Minister Yvette Cooper said the rioters felt “emboldened by this moment to foment racial hatred”.
He promised a showdown with those involved, saying the government would support penalties ranging from prison to a travel ban.
According to the National Police Chiefs’ Council, police have arrested 378 people since the riots began.
“Violent disorder is a serious crime that often carries a long prison sentence,” said NPCC chairman Gavin Stephens.
In Rotherham, northern England, protesters attempted to break into a hotel housing asylum seekers on Sunday, in what Starmer called an act of “far-right hooliganism”.
Elsewhere, mostly young men, some waving the Union Jack, threw stones and shouted “Stop the boats,” referring to migrants disembarking in dinghies on the southern coast.
Many rioters were met by large groups of counter-protesters, with police often having difficulty keeping the two sides apart.
Liverpool Police said a 14-year-old boy was among those charged with violent disorder.
Starmer said a “standing army” of specialist police officers would intervene in outbreaks of violence where necessary.
POLICE BLAME ONLINE DISINFORMATION
Police blamed the violence on online misinformation, amplified by high-profile figures.
Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known by the pseudonym Tommy Robinson and former leader of the defunct English Defence League, an anti-Islam movement, has been accused by the media of spreading misinformation among his 875,000 followers on X.
“They are lying to all of you,” Yaxley-Lennon said. “They are trying to turn the nation against me. I need you, you are my voice.”
Even X owner Elon Musk weighed in. Responding to a post about X blaming mass migration and open borders for the unrest in Britain, he wrote: “Civil war is inevitable.”
Starmer’s spokesperson said there was “no justification” for Musk’s comment.
In Whitechapel, east London, lawyer MA Gani, 33, said Britain’s Bangladeshi community was “living in fear”.
“We have never seen this kind of far-right groups so active and anti-immigrant,” he said.
“I hope the UK government will take the initiative to calm the situation.”
Home Secretary Cooper told broadcasters that the government would prosecute the spread of misinformation online through social media companies and did not accept that concerns about immigration could justify violence.
“Reasonable people who have all these kinds of opinions and concerns don’t pick up bricks and throw them at the police,” he said.
