UK PM Starmer vows no let up in stopping further far-right riots

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed this week to maintain intensive efforts to stop further far-right riots in English towns and cities, as more people were convicted for their roles in the unrest.

He also noted the criminal justice system would continue "working speedily" to convict those already arrested during a week of near nightly riots across England and in Northern Ireland.

In England, police revealed nearly 500 people had now been arrested for alleged participation in the unrest and a judge in Liverpool, northwest England, jailed several more people for their involvement.

The disturbances, first sparked by a July 29 knife attack that killed three children, has seen mosques and migrant-related facilities attacked alongside police and other targets.

Officials have blamed misinformation spread on social media about the suspected perpetrator for fuelling the disorder.

"It's important that we don't let up here," Starmer told media outlets as he visited a mosque and met community leaders in Solihull, in the Midlands.

Starmer credited "police deployed in numbers in the right places, giving reassurance to communities" with helping to ease the unrest overnight.

Wednesday evening turned out to be largely peaceful. Instead of the far-right gatherings at dozens of sites linked to immigrant support services for which police had been preparing, thousands of anti-racism and anti-fascism protesters staged peaceful demonstrations. They massed in cities including London, Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and Newcastle.

The UK government has put 6,000 specialist police on standby across England to deal with potential flashpoints, after far-right social media channels called for a string of immigration-linked sites to be targeted.

The riots flared after three girls – aged nine, seven and six – were killed and five more children critically injured during a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, northwest England.

False online reports had suggested that the suspect was an illegal immigrant and a Muslim.

The suspect was later identified as 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, born in Wales. UK media report that his parents are from Rwanda, which is overwhelmingly Christian.

The unrest, Britain's worst since the 2011 London riots, has led several countries to issue travel warnings for the UK.

Police forces have acknowledged being taken by surprise at the speed with which the violence spread after the murder of three girls in Southport, northwest England last week. A vigil was hijacked by anti-immigration agitators, and even after the judge in the case took the rare step of naming the teenage suspect to try to quell the online rumours, the rioting continued.

Adding to the challenge was the fact the far-right activists involved appeared to have no formal leadership structure, mobilising online using X and Telegram to call for protests. Prominent figures have been accused of stoking unrest, including Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who is better known as Tommy Robinson.

After the government criticised Elon Musk for posting on his X platform about the riots that “civil war is inevitable,” the billionaire responded with a series of posts attacking Starmer.

Authorities also suspect foreign state-backed actors have been using bots and accounts with stolen identities on X to amplify anti-immigration sentiment

– TIMES/AFP/BLOOMBERG