The British Labour government of Keir Starmer tried on Sunday to convince people of its ability to stop the violent protests, during the fifth day of the worst riots in the last 13 years in England.
The protests began after rumours spread on social media by far-right influencers about the nationality and religion of the alleged attacker who killed three girls on Monday in the northwestern town of Southport.
“I assure you that you will regret having played a part in this mess,” Prime Minister Starmer said at a brief press conference in London, adding that his government will do “everything necessary to bring these thugs to justice.”
Anti-immigration protesters wearing masks smashed several windows at a hotel used to house asylum seekers in Rotherham, northern England.
Footage broadcast by the BBC showed people forcing their way into the building and pushing a burning container inside. It is not known if any asylum seekers were present.
A second hotel known to house asylum seekers was attacked on Sunday night in Tamworth, near Birmingham in central England, local police said.
In the northeastern city of Middlesbrough, hundreds of protesters clashed with riot police, some throwing bricks, cans and pots at them.
More than 90 people were arrested on Saturday following clashes at far-right protests in Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Blackpool and Hull, as well as Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Protesters threw bricks, bottles and flares at police, injuring several officers, looted and burned shops, and shouted anti-Islamic slurs as they clashed with counter-protesters.
The country has not seen such an outbreak of violence since 2011, following the death of a young mixed-race man, Mark Duggan, killed by police in north London, British media report.
Rioting broke out in Southport on Tuesday night following a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed party there the day before, and then spread across England.
The protests were fuelled by false rumours on social media about the origin of 17-year-old British-born suspect Axel Rudakubana, who is accused of killing three girls and injuring 10 others.
At least two mosques have been attacked and Britain’s Home Office announced Sunday it was offering new emergency security to Islamic places of worship.
A month after taking power, Starmer is facing his first crisis on a particularly sensitive issue, as during the campaign the Conservatives accused Labour of being lax on security and immigration.
Since Monday, he has been multiplying his messages of firmness and guarantees of support for the police forces against what he describes as “extreme right-wing hatred.”
After an emergency meeting with his top ministers on Saturday, he warned that his government would support police in taking “all necessary measures to keep the streets safe.”
Asked about the possibility of using the army, the minister in charge of the police, Diana Johnson, assured the BBC on Sunday that the police forces “have all the resources they need.”
At the demonstrations, organised under the slogan “Enough is enough”, anti-immigration and Islamophobic slogans were shouted while British flags were waved.
Although there is unanimous condemnation of the violence, criticism of the government is beginning to emerge.
Former Conservative Home Secretary Priti Patel told X that the government “risks appearing to be swept along by events rather than in control.”
“In the last two weeks, under Labour, we have had knife attacks on innocent people, street fights with machetes, riots and violence at demonstrations,” anti-immigration party Reform UK said in a statement, accusing Labour of being “lax on criminals.”
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