Photo: Peter Powell Agence France-Presse In the demonstrations, organized under the slogan “Enough is enough”, anti-immigration and Islamophobic slogans were chanted and British flags were brandished.
Marie Heuclin – Agence France-Presse in London
Published at 10:40
- Europe
Keir Starmer's Labour government is trying to convince people on Sunday that it can stem violent far-right protests after another day of clashes in several cities across the country on Saturday led to nearly a hundred arrests.
Sometimes targeting mosques or places where asylum seekers are housed, these gatherings began after rumours spread on social media, relayed by far-right influencers, about the nationality and religion of the alleged attacker who killed three girls on Monday in the town of Southport in north-west England.
Rallies are still planned for Sunday.
On Saturday, demonstrations organized in several dozen cities degenerated in many places, including Liverpool (north-west), Hull (north-east), Belfast (Northern Ireland) and Leeds (north).
Clashes took place between demonstrators and police, but also with counter-demonstrators mobilized at the call of anti-racist associations.
Several police officers were injured, local police reported.
The police indicated on Sunday that they had arrested more than 90 people at this stage, including 23 in Liverpool, 20 in Hull, 20 in Blackpool (north-west) and 14 in Bristol (south-west).
Photo: Justin Tallis Agence France-Presse “You can't pay the rent ? Blame the billionaires, not the immigrants,” read a placard held up by a counter-protester in Bristol on Saturday.
This new day of violence followed riots that broke out in Sunderland (northeast) on Friday, and in several cities, including London, on Wednesday, and in Southport on Tuesday, the day after the knife attack.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000The country had not seen such an outbreak since 2011, after a young mixed-race man, Mark Duggan, was killed by police in north London, British media report.
While police have had to deal with “localised” incidents in some parts of the country, now “it’s spreading to the big cities”, Tiffany Lynch of the Police Professional Federation of England and Wales told the BBC.
Just a month after coming to power, Keir Starmer is experiencing his first crisis, on a subject that is all the more sensitive as Labour was accused by the Conservatives during the campaign of being lax on security and immigration.
Since Monday, Keir Starmer has been issuing tough messages and assurances of support for the police against what he has described as “far-right hatred” and “thugs”.
After an emergency meeting with his senior ministers on Saturday, he warned that his government would support the police in taking “all necessary action.”
First reviews
Asked about the prospect of using the army, Police Minister Diana Johnson told the BBC on Sunday that the police “have all the resources they need.”
“If you are involved [in violence] and you haven’t been arrested yet, you will be,” warned the head of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), BJ Harrington, adding that 4,000 riot police were on standby.
The protests, organised under the slogan “Enough is enough”, included chants of anti-immigration and Islamophobic slogans and the waving of British flags.
Karina, a 41-year-old mother, attended the rally in Nottingham on Saturday. “I'm a patriot and I'm sick of people… telling us that white working-class people are fascists because we don't want to see people coming illegally on boats from safe countries,” she told AFP.
While there is unanimous condemnation of the violence, criticism is starting to emerge of the government.
Former Conservative Home Secretary Priti Patel told X that “they now risk appearing swept up in events rather than in control of them.”
Conservative MP Mel Stride said it was “regrettable” that the Labour government had reversed “rapid response” provisions for policing put in place by the previous government conservative.
“In the last two weeks under Labour we have had knife attacks on innocent people, machete street fights, riots and violence at protests,” the anti-immigration party Reform UK said on Sunday.
Green Party co-chair Carla Denyer, “outraged” by the protests, said they should serve as “a wake-up call to all politicians who have actively promoted or used” anti-immigration rhetoric.