British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has condemned what he labelled “far-right thuggery” after violent anti-immigration protests that have been on for days degenerated in an attack on a hotel. He said perpetrators would face the full force of law.
Violent protests started in towns and cities in Britain after three girls were murdered during a knife attack that took place at a children’s dance class in Southport in northwest England recently.
The murders were seized on by anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim groups as false information spread that the suspected attacker was an immigrant and a radical Muslim. Police have stated that the suspect was born in Britain, as such, the case would not be treated as a terrorist incident.
The protests have spread across cities like Liverpool, Bristol and Manchester. They have resulted in many arrests as shops and businesses were vandalized and looted while many police were injured.
Recently, hundreds of anti-immigration protesters converged by a hotel close to Rotherham, northern England, which according to Britain’s Interior Minister was housing asylum seekers.
According to reports, the protesters threw bricks at police, destroyed many hotel windows, set nearby bins on fire and pushing them into the hotel.
In a statement, Starmer said: “I utterly condemn the far-right thuggery we’ve seen this weekend. Be in no doubt, those that have participated in this violence will face the full force of the law.”
He stated further that the disorder targeted people because of the colour of their skin or faith, and that there was no way to legalize the disorder on Britain’s streets.
He said: “It doesn’t matter what apparent motivation there is. This is violence, this is not protest.”
Starmer said residents and staff were in “absolute fear” from the “marauding gangs” in Rotherham.
He said: “There is no justification – none – for taking this action and all right-minded people should be condemning this sort of violence.”
Many protesters converged close to a hotel in Aldershot, southern England, while others walked through the town centre of Middlesbrough in the northeast.
There were anti-racist protesters in Rotherham and the northwest town of Lancaster but police are keeping the two groups apart.
According to the interior ministry, mosques would be provided extra security under new arrangements after they received threats.
As protests commenced in Bolton, near Manchester, police said that a notice of dispersal had been authorized to give officers additional powers, with a similar notice authorized in Liverpool.
In a joint statement, a group of faith leaders from Liverpool said: “While this should be a time for quiet reflection and remembrance, since Monday, too many people have sought to use the tragedy to create division and hate.
“It can – and has – left communities in fear and has put people in danger.”
