- Starmer says rioters will face the full force of the law.
- Protests targeting immigrants and Muslims.
- Police say more than 370 people have been arrested since the riots began.
LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said violent protesters who attacked Muslim communities would swiftly face the “full force of the law” as he sought to quell days of anti-immigration unrest.
The fatal stabbing of three girls in the north-west English town of Southport last week has been seized upon by anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim groups, with misinformation spread online and amplified by high-profile far-right figures to spark riots in towns and cities.
“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 chiefs.
“The full weight of the law will fall on all those who are identified as participants.”
Police chiefs said they had arrested 378 people since the start of the unrest and warned of “lengthy prison sentences” for those found guilty of violent disorder.
The violence erupted last Tuesday after social media posts said the suspected Southport attacker was an extremist who had recently arrived in Britain and was known to intelligence services.
Police say the 17-year-old suspect was born in Britain and they are not treating it as a terrorist incident. The suspect's parents had moved to Britain from Rwanda.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said rioters had felt “emboldened… to stoke racial hatred” and that the protests were not a proportionate response to concerns about near-record levels of immigration.
“Reasonable people… don't pick up bricks and throw them at the police,” he said.
Protests, mostly numbering a few hundred people, have continued across the country, with shops being looted and mosques and Asian-owned businesses attacked. Cars have been set on fire and unverified videos on social media have shown ethnic minorities being beaten.
Australia and Nigeria were among countries issuing warnings on Monday to citizens living in or traveling to Britain.
On Monday afternoon, protests spread to Plymouth in south-west England. Several hundred anti-immigration demonstrators carrying English and British flags faced off against a larger number of counter-demonstrators, separated by riot police.
Protesters threw bricks and firecrackers and clashed with police. Sky News reported that three police officers were injured.
In Rotherham, northern England, protesters on Sunday tried to break into a hotel housing asylum seekers in what Starmer called an act of “far-right thuggery,” following protests on Saturday in other English cities and Belfast.
Starmer said a “standing army” of specialist police officers would tackle outbreaks of violence when necessary.
The Northern Ireland Assembly will end its summer recess a day early to discuss the violence.
Police blame online misinformation
Police have blamed online misinformation, amplified by high-profile figures, for fueling the violence.
Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known by the pseudonym Tommy Robinson and formerly the leader of the now defunct anti-Islamic English Defence League, has been blamed by the media for spreading misinformation to his 875,000 followers on X.
“They're lying to all of you,” Yaxley-Lennon said. “They're trying to turn the nation against me. I need you, you're my voice.”
Elon Musk, the owner of X, also weighed in. In response to a post on X that blamed mass migration and open borders for the unrest in Britain, he wrote: “Civil war is inevitable.”
Starmer's spokesman said there was “no justification” for Musk's comment. Musk later criticised Starmer for a post on X which suggested mosques needed special protection.
In Whitechapel, London, barrister MA Gani, 33, said the British Bangladeshi community was “living in fear”.
“We have never seen far-right groups so active and anti-immigrant,” he said.
“I hope the UK government will take the initiative to calm the situation.”
Britain's technology minister, Peter Kyle, has met with representatives of social media platforms, including X, to remind them of their responsibility to stop the spread of racial hatred and incitement to violence.
“There is a significant amount of content circulating and platforms need to address it quickly,” he said.
