You will regret taking part in this

Rotterham:

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday warned far-right protesters they would “regret” taking part in England’s worst riots in 13 years, as unrest linked to the murder of three children earlier this week spread all over the country.

Masked anti-immigration protesters smashed several windows at a hotel that has been used to house asylum seekers in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.

Unrest over misinformation about last Monday’s mass stabbing in the coastal town of Southport in northwest England has reached several towns and cities, with anti-immigration protesters clashing with police.

The violence is a major challenge for Starmer, elected just a month ago after leading Labor to a landslide victory over the Conservatives.

“I guarantee you will regret taking part in this mayhem. Whether directly or through those who initiated this action online and then fled,” Starmer said in a televised speech.

There was “no justification” for what he called “far-right violence”, he added, promising to bring the perpetrators “to justice”.

Stores looted and burned

Footage broadcast by the BBC showed protesters storming a Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham. They also pushed a burning trash can into the building. It was unclear whether asylum seekers were inside.

Ten police officers were injured there, but local police said none of the hotel’s employees or its customers were injured.

In the city of Middlesbrough in northeast England, hundreds of protesters faced riot police carrying shields. Some threw bricks, cans and pans at the police.

Protesters seized a camera from an AFP team and broke it. The journalists were not injured.

The new disturbances came after police said more than 150 people had been arrested since Saturday following skirmishes at far-right rallies in Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Blackpool and Hull, as well as Belfast in Northern Ireland.

Protesters threw bricks, bottles and rockets at police – injuring several officers – and looted and burned stores, while demonstrators shouted anti-Islamic insults while clashing with counter-protesters.

The violence is the worst England has seen since the summer of 2011, when widespread rioting followed the police killing of a mixed-race man in north London.

Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious leaders in Liverpool issued a joint appeal for calm.

“We are now seeing flooding (problems) in major cities and towns,” said Tiffany Lynch of the Police Federation of England and Wales.

Late on Sunday, Staffordshire Police said another hotel known for housing asylum seekers was attacked near Birmingham.

“A large group of individuals” have “thrown projectiles, broken windows, started fires and targeted police” at the hotel in the city of Tamworth, with one police officer injured, the statement said.

Riots first broke out in Southport on Tuesday night following Monday’s frenzied knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party in the north-west coastal town, before spreading across England.

They were fueled by false rumors on social media about the background of 17-year-old British suspect Axel Rudakubana, accused of killing a child aged six, seven and nine and injuring 10 others.

Police blamed the violence on supporters and associated organizations of the English Defense League, an anti-Islam organization founded 15 years ago whose supporters have been linked to football hooliganism.

Rioters attacked at least two mosques and the UK Home Office announced on Sunday that it was offering new emergency security to Islamic places of worship.

The demonstrations were announced on far-right social media channels under the slogan “Enough is Enough”.

Participants waved English and British flags while shouting slogans such as “Stop the boats” – a reference to irregular migrants crossing the English Channel into Britain from France.

Anti-fascist protesters held counter-rallies in many cities, including Leeds, where they chanted, “Nazi scum off our streets”, while far-right protesters shouted, “You’re not English anymore”.

Not all meetings turned violent. A peaceful event in Aldershot, southern England, on Sunday saw participants hold signs that read “Stop the invasion” and “We are not far right, we are right”.

“People are sick of hearing that you should be ashamed if you are white and working class, but I am proud of the white working class,” Karina, 41, who did not give her surname, told AFP in Nottingham on Saturday. .

In last month’s election, the Reform UK party, led by Brexit cheerleader Nigel Farage, won 14 percent of the vote – one of the highest vote shares for a far-right British party.

Carla Denyer, co-leader of the left-leaning Green Party, said the unrest should be “a wake-up call to all politicians who have actively promoted or given in” to anti-immigration rhetoric.

(Except the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)