Article (UK) Riot Updates

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Continued from: Protesters hijack town's grief after stabbing attack that killed 3 children

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UK examines foreign states' role in sowing discord leading to riots
https://www.asiaone.com/world/uk-examine...ding-riots

RELEASE: The British government said on Monday (Aug 5) officials were examining the role foreign states had played in amplifying disinformation online which had helped fuel violent protests, while warning social media firms they had to do more to stop it.

Trouble flared last week following the murder of three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed event in Southport, a seaside town in northern England, after false messaging on social media wrongly identified the suspected killer as an Islamist migrant.

Protests by anti-Islam and anti-immigration groups then spread to other towns and cities across Britain, with mosques and hotels housing migrants targeted, leading to violent clashes with police.

Jacob Davey, Director of Policy and Research at the Institute of Strategic Dialogue (ISD), said the flood of online disinformation and the role of social media firms themselves had been key. "I don't think we can underestimate how central the spread of this information is to the horrific events of the weekend," he told Reuters.

In response, the government, which has for years accused countries such as Russia of seeking to sow discord, has said it was looking to see how much impact foreign states had had in promoting the false messages.

"We have seen bot activity online, much of which may well be amplified or have the involvement of state actors, amplifying some of the disinformation and misinformation that we've seen," a spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters. "It is clearly something that is being looked at."

Elon Musk, the owner of X, has also weighed in. Responding to a post on X that blamed mass migration and open borders for the disorder in Britain, he wrote: "Civil war is inevitable."

Davey said disinformation was spread not just by those seeking to cause trouble but by the social media platforms themselves because of their business models' algorithms which are set up to amplify a narrative online. "You saw that in the trending in the UK topics, you saw that disinformation cropping up under searches for Southport ... That business model side of things is really important."

Disinformation was also pushed by high profile anti-immigrant activists. Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known by the pseudonym Tommy Robinson and previously the leader of the defunct anti-Islam English Defence League, has been blamed by media for spreading misinformation on X.

He had been banned from the platform in 2018, over the production of hateful content according to media reports at the time, but was reinstated after it was bought by Musk.
Platform for hate

Britain brought in a new Online Safety Act last year to tackle such issues as child sexual abuse and promoting suicide, but Professor Matthew Feldman, a specialist on right-wing extremism at the University of York, said it may not help in this situation. It did not appear to cover "online incitement to offline criminality or disorder", he said.

Feldman said far-right groups were less organised than they had been more than a decade ago when the likes of the British National Party could boast thousands of members. Now no organisation had more than a few hundred.

Despite that, they are highly visible. Modern technology was being exploited by extremists and influencers to capture attention, he said.

Nor had the trouble come out of nowhere, said the ISD's Davey: there had been unrest outside migrant centres, disorder at last year's Remembrance Day events, and thousands of people out in central London a few weeks ago to support Yaxley-Lennon. "I think that this is really the accumulation of a much longer process whereby we've seen extremist groups become more confident," he said.

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*** Over 370 arrested in UK following week of violent disorder, says National Police Chiefs' Council

The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) has reported that more than 370 individuals have been arrested across the UK in connection with the violent disturbances that have erupted over the past week.

The skirmishes, which have involved confrontations between protesters and police, have prompted significant law enforcement responses and raised concerns about public safety and order.

Authorities continue to work diligently to restore peace and hold those responsible for the unrest accountable.
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UK PM promises 'standing army' of officers to tackle riot
http://www.china.org.cn/world/2024-08/06...350949.htm

RELEASE: United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday that a "standing army" of specialist police officers would be established to deal with riots that have rocked the country following deadly stabbings in Southport, northwest England.

Starmer made the announcement after an emergency meeting with ministers and top law enforcement officials after far-right protesters violently clashed with police officers and counter-protesters in many cities and towns of the country in the past week.

In the past week, far-right protesters were seen throwing projectiles, attacking officers, looting stores and storming hotels housing asylum seekers in major cities like London, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, Leeds, Nottingham and Sunderland, as well as in towns like Middlesbrough, Bolton and Rotherham.

Police have arrested 378 people since the start of the disorder, UK's National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) said on Monday.

NPCC Chair Gavin Stephens said he expects the number to rise each day as police forces continue to identify those involved and continue to apprehend those responsible.

"Violent disorder is a serious offence which often comes with a lengthy jail term," said Stephens.

Following the emergency meeting, Starmer said the government will "ramp up criminal justice" to ensure that "sanctions are swift."

UK: Rioters Attack Hotels Housing Asylum Seekers, PM Condemns "Thuggery" ... https://youtu.be/SnnYcJVI_r8

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/SnnYcJVI_r8

[confused2]

From BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cw5yyynpwnzt

A year after the purchase [of X by Elon], far-right activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was reinstated to the platform after a five-year ban.

The convicted criminal spent the weekend [August 2024] posting inflammatory messages to his 900k followers on X while relaxing in Cyprus.

900k followers .. not really a surprise.

From Wikipedia.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Robinson_(activist)

Robinson founded the English Defence League (EDL) in 2009 with his cousin Kevin Carroll,[11][20][21] and became its leader with Carroll as deputy leader.[22] Robinson stated that he was prompted to found the EDL after reading a newspaper article about local Islamists attempting to recruit men to fight for the Taliban in Afghanistan outside a bakery in Luton.[8] Many of the EDL's early members were recruited from football club supporters in Luton.[23] Robinson described the EDL, shortly after it was founded, as being "against the rise of radical Islam". Paraic O'Brien writing for the BBC said that the organisation's rank-and-file were "loosely affiliated with football hooligan firms" and described themselves as anti-Islam.[10][23] Robinson founded the European Defence League, a co-ordination of groups similar to the EDL operating in different European countries.[24]

Maybe not so much 'similar to football hooligans' as actually the same people.

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*** No end to UK protests as govt expands jail capacity.

The British government has expanded its prison capacity to address the violent, week-long anti-immigrant riots, prompting multiple countries to issue travel warnings for Britain.

The riots erupted in several towns and cities following the murder of three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed event in Southport, a seaside town in northern England. False social media messages wrongly identified the suspected killer as an Islamist migrant, inciting the violence.

The Justice Department, already grappling with a jail overcrowding crisis that has forced the early release of some prisoners, announced nearly 600 additional prison places to detain those involved in the unrest. So far, around 400 people have been arrested.
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MPs told to take safety precautions as riots violence spreads
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po...92041.html

MPs have been warned to take safety precautions as riots continue to spread across the country. Members of parliament have been urged to contact police and consider working from home instead of their constituency offices.

Those whose offices are “prominent and easily identifiable” have also been advised to look at their security protocols. And MPs near where 30 protests are planned on Wednesday have also been made aware of the situation.
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PSNI Condemn Second Night Of Violent Disorder In South Belfast
https://www.4ni.co.uk/northern-ireland-n...th-belfast

The PSNI have condemned "disgraceful scenes" following a second night of violent disorder in south Belfast on Monday, 05 August.

In a second night of rioting and disorder, mainly in the areas of Donegall Road and Sandy Row, police officers came under sustained attack over a number of hours with multiple petrol bombs, heavy masonry and bricks thrown at them.

Petrol was also poured over a police landrover and set alight, thankfully the occupants of the vehicle were not physically harmed and remained on duty.

One 15-year-old male was arrested on suspicion of riotous behaviour and remains in police custody this morning.

A member of the public, a man aged in his 30s, was taken to hospital after he was seriously assaulted in the Donegall Road and Oban Street area. Witnesses reported seeing his attackers stamp on his head as members of the public attempted to shield him from further attack. His condition is described as serious and police are treating the attack as a hate crime.
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Anti-racism Muslim group urge government to ramp up safety commitments for women after riots
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po...91844.html

INTRO: A prominent anti-racist Muslim group are urging the government to ramp up its commitment to gender-based Islamophobia, The Independent can reveal.

Muslim communities, including women, are fearing for their lives amid widespread race riots around Britain across the past week which have left dozens of people injured and hundreds arrested.

Shaista Aziz, Amna Abdullatif and Huda Jawad, who are known as ‘The Three Hijabis’ due to their heritage and Islamic religious dress, have been contacted by Muslim women across the country with worries and reports of their hijabs being pulled off in the street.

Yet, there is no specific government strategy in place to safeguard Muslim women, despite the government’s stated “mission” to protect women and girls.

”Muslim women being afraid to travel into their town and city centres - making them no-go areas for them, is gendered Islamophobia,” a statement, first seen by The Independent, from The Three Hijabis says.

“Muslim women have told us that they have changed their daily routine taking care not to be outside of their homes due to fear of being attacked by far-right mobs. Muslim women shared their concerns about the safety and well-being of their children, brothers, husbands and family members, particularly when attending mosque. Mosques have been the target of coordinated far-right Islamophbic attacks.”

The statement continued: “We call for gendered Islamophobia to be acknowledged as a specific form of violence against women and girls at the highest levels of government.”
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Elon Musk clashes with Keir Starmer over claim of 'civil war' over UK riots
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/e...r-33402487

EXCERPTS: The billionaire X founder was accused of 'exercising power in an irresponsible way' after he claimed 'civil war is inevitable' in the UK amid scenes of violent disorder by far-right thugs

[...] The X owner then responded to a post by the PM which said the Government will "not tolerate attacks on mosques or Muslim communities". But Mr Musk said: "Shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on *all* communities?".

[...] The ex-Tory Cabinet Minister Rory Stewart responded to the billionaire businessman on X saying: "Seriously? Since when have you claimed to understand British communities or British politics? Exactly how many days have you spent with these communities? Does it ever occur to you that this might perhaps be the wrong time to sound off about a subject you know nothing about?"

No10 has not responded to the latest comments but government ministers continued to criticise Mr Musk's "civil war" claims on Tuesday morning.

MORE: https://www.scivillage.com/thread-16294-...l#pid65638
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Controversial social media figure Andrew Tate
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/worl...319564.cms

Controversial social media figure Andrew Tate has recently been targeted with numerous "racial insults" following his outspoken comments on the recent UK riots. The unrest, which is reportedly fuelled by anti-immigrant and Islamophobic sentiments, has sparked intense debates, with Tate's strong opinions drawing significant attention due to his background as an immigrant and a Muslim.

In a statement, Tate expressed his surprise at the nature of the backlash, noting, "This is the first time in my life I'm getting serious racist insults for being brown from white people in the UK. Not a good look." Despite being no stranger to criticism, Tate admits that the experience of receiving racist attacks in his home country is new for him.Tate continues to advocate for dialogue and understanding as the solution to the current tensions. "The difference between me and everyone else is that even though I am the exact person these white mobs would attack—a brown Muslim—I believe dialogue and letting them feel heard is the answer. Conversation is key. Silencing voices only makes the problem worse," he asserted.

Tate also offered his broader perspective on the situation, framing it as a class struggle rather than solely a racial conflict. "It's rich versus poor," he explained. "There are people in the world who have no interest at all in the sanctity and safety of society. They're interested only in protecting their money and their profits, and they're going to allow the streets to run with blood to do that."

He further cautioned that the government's response to the violence could lead to the implementation of more oppressive laws. "Those laws will be abused. Because laws are always abused by the governments. They're going to say it's for your safety, but eventually, the laws will be abused to prevent you from ever having a point of view on anything ever again," Tate warned.

[Syne]

Apparently Starmer had no such strident criticism for BLM protests/riots.

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‘Migration has sustained the NHS’ – health chief condemns violence
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/migration-sust...51693.html

People who are racist to NHS staff "can and should" be turned away, the health secretary has said. Wes Streeting condemned "mindless thuggery" seen across Britain in the aftermath of the Southport stabbings over the past week.

As far-right violence spread between towns and cities, Filipino nurses were attacked on Friday night as they travelled to work for emergency cover during unrest in Sunderland.

Speaking to the PA news agency, Mr Streeting said the people who attacked them "brought enormous shame on our country".

According to reports, the taxi they were travelling in was pelted with rocks and they were left "terrified", the Mirror reported, though they were physically unharmed.

"I will not tolerate, under any circumstances, NHS or social care staff in any health or care setting being subjected to intimidation, harassment or racist abuse," Mr Streeting said.

"We have a zero-tolerance policy in the NHS and we'll take a zero-tolerance approach in social care too. People who are abusing NHS staff can be turned away, and should be turned away, if that is the way that they are treating our staff."

He added the country is "lucky" to have people in the NHS who "come from around the world to provide great, compassionate care".

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Belfast violence outrageous, says far-right campaigner
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq6rrn9y7d2o

Violent disorder in Belfast following an anti-immigration protest was outrageous, one of the UK’s most prominent far-right voices has said. On Tuesday, I spoke to Rev Jim Dowson, who was a founder of the anti-Islamic group Britain First and was once described as Britain’s most influential far-right activist by anti-racism campaigners.

[...] I asked him whether concern about immigration could become racism.

"Well, I don't think it slides into racism, it's pushed into racism because nobody's allowed to have a genuine conversation about it," he responded. "If, over the last 20 years in this country people could have genuine sensible grown-up mature and decent conversations about the levels of immigration and the genuine worries people have got when they see their communities changing, people with another agenda would never have taken root,” he continued.

[...] He said Northern Ireland was “slightly different” and “we don't have a lot of immigrants”.

“I don’t think you can ever point to an example where I've been saying Northern Ireland's under this terrible pressure because of mass immigration.”

[...] Mr Dowson suggested the disorder was stoked by social media posts, to which I challenged if he was being hypocritical for his own past use of social media.

He said: “I used social media very effectively in the flag protests because it was something I cared passionately about and still do and I think if it had been played different we could have won a victory there. But that's a big difference from inciting people."

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(Wikipedia) 2024 United Kingdom riots
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_United_Kingdom_riots
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Fear of far-right protest forces some shops in NE London to board up, close early
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/fear-of-...ly/3297898

Fearing threats to safety and possible looting, some businesses in northeast London decided to close shop early, hours before a planned far-right protest is set to take place.

Walthamstow is among more than 30 locations across England where far-right rioters are expected to show up late Wednesday amid ongoing violent disorder in towns and cities across the country.

The protest by far-right rioters, expected to start at 8 p.m. local time (1900GMT), spurred some shops to board up to avoid damage or looting while some are already closed, and others were boarded up in the middle of the day, hours before the start of the protests.

Speaking to Anadolu, shop owners expressed concern over what could be happening tonight and said the area is quieter than usual, most likely due to a fear of violence.

Danyal, who works in Walthamstow, said that he has not seen a lot of people today, calling it a "weird morning."

Saying that he is starting to see increased police presence in the area, he confirmed that some shop owners decided to close early.
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Britain’s rioters aren’t much different than Bolsheviks
https://thespectator.com/topic/britains-...olsheviks/

EXCERPTS: British riots are not a new phenomenon. [...] Far-right political militants have undoubtedly helped to instigate the troubles on the streets, and the question arises: are they employing a model of far-left activism that led to the Bolshevik seizure of power Russia in October 1917? Some features are very reminiscent.

[...] Bolsheviks in every city organized demonstrations through city centers. They put up posters advertising their plans. They encouraged supporters to come along with rifles if they had them.

[...] Bolshevik leaders themselves — Lenin and Trotsky among them — avoided standing at the front of any march: they knew that they would be the first targets for arrest...

After carrying out their seizure of power, the Bolsheviks claimed that their victory was based on a scientific analysis of the logic of trends. They kept hidden — even from themselves — how much they had benefited from a fortuitous run of events: a European war, economic collapse, ruinous welfare conditions and the disintegration of the old tsarist state. In the chaos, their policies for Russia fell into fertile ground.

Bolsheviks adapted efficiently to open politics. Whereas among themselves they talked in Marxist jargon, in public they spattered society with slogans that everyone could understand: peace, bread and land.

[...] Are we truly in danger of an advance on power by the British political far right? Surely not. But there are resonances from revolutions of the past...
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How much longer will we put up with the collapse of the country before something is done?
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/29654868/b...-clarkson/

EXCERPT: When I lived in London’s Notting Hill, working in the media, I was a remainer and so were all my friends. It literally didn’t occur to us, as we sat down there in our agreeable houses eating agreeable food that someone might vote to leave.

And I think the same thing is happening again. Today, I’m surrounded by farmers and plasterers and brickies and butchers and all I hear, all day long, is that there’s too much immigration.

But if they say this out loud, or if they go on a march, they are told by the London elite that they are far-right extremists or racist thugs.

For the most part, they’re not. They are just people who know that they have to shut up when the Last Post is played and that a cheese rolling down a hill is funny.

There was a time you’d have called them the salt of the earth. But Sir Starmer doesn’t seem to have grasped this.

He is surrounded by people who see nothing wrong with immigration and he’s got it into his head – as I did with Brexit – that anyone who disagrees with him must be some kind of Trump-nut.

The fact is though that four million people voted for Reform. More than that voted for Brexit. And he’s p***ing them off by labelling them as modern-day Hitlers.

I therefore suggest that both he and his friends at the BBC calm down the rhetoric or we could be heading for some real trouble.
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Only Communist China Losing More Millionaires Than Starmer’s Britain
https://order-order.com/2024/08/07/only-...s-britain/

EXCERPT: Starmer said during the general election campaign: “I think it’s a good thing that people are aspirational. When I say our number one mission is economic growth, you could say our number one mission is wealth creation. Now that’s an odd thing for the Labour party to say. It might have been in the past.” More fool those who believed him…

[The report came out before Starmer became PM, though.]

The Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2024: The UK is expected to see an unprecedented net loss of 9,500 millionaires in 2024 — second only to China worldwide, and more than double the 4,200 who left the country last year, which was itself record-breaking following the exodus of 1,600 high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) in 2022. For the third year running, the UAE looks set to take first place as the world’s leading wealth magnet, with a record-breaking 6,700 moneyed migrants expected to make the Emirates home by the end of the year, significantly boosted by large inflows from the UK and Europe.

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U.K. anti-racism protesters take to streets after days of far-right unrest
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/0...rotesters/

Thousands of anti-racism protesters took to the streets in several English cities on Wednesday to oppose days of far-right violence that have had U.K. police on high alert.

Nightly riots — during which mosques and migrant-related facilities have been attacked — have erupted across towns and cities in England and Northern Ireland, fueled by a wave of misinformation surrounding the murder of three children on July 29.

But on Wednesday evening, it was anti-racism and anti-fascist counterprotesters who were out in greater numbers, holding rallies in cities up and down England including London, Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and Newcastle.

"Whose streets? Our streets!" chanted protesters at a few-thousand-strong gathering in Walthamstow, northeast London, where some held banners saying "Stop the far right."

"I live in the borough and we don't want these people on our streets. ... They don't represent us," said Sara Tresilian, 58, referring to the far-right.

"You have to turn out (and) give that message. ... I think it's important that you show up for your friends and neighbors."

Andy Valentine, the Metropolitan Police's deputy assistant commissioner, thanked "communities for coming together across the capital and for showing community spirit this evening."

In Sheffield, activists chanted "Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here" as riot police looked on.

In Birmingham, hundreds of anti-racism protesters gathered outside a migrant support center, while in Brighton around 2,000 people took part in a peaceful demonstration, according to police.

There was some friction, however, as in the southern town of Aldershot, where the PA reported police had to intervene between anti-racism activists and a group of people shouting "Stop the boats" — a reference to migrants who reach Britain by crossing the English Channel.

The government had put 6,000 specialist police on standby to deal with the approximately 100 demonstrations by far-right activists and counter-protesters that were advertised.

In a social media post, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper thanked "all the police officers working tonight to protect & support local communities."

Courts have started to order jail terms for offenders tied to the unrest as authorities seek to head off new troubles.

The disorder, Britain's worst since the 2011 London riots, has seen almost 430 people arrested and at least 120 charged, and has led several countries to issue travel warnings for the U.K.

The violence broke out after three girls age 9, 7 and 6 were killed and five more children critically injured during a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, northwest England.

False rumors initially spread on social media saying the attacker was a Muslim asylum-seeker. The suspect was later identified as 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, born in Wales. U.K. media reported that his parents are from Rwanda.

The rioting that followed has seen demonstrators throw bricks and flares at police officers, burn cars and attack mosques and at least two hotels that have been used for asylum-seekers.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has warned anyone involved will face "the full force of the law," including those inciting violence online.

Starmer, a former chief state prosecutor, has pledged "substantive sentencing before the end of this week" for rioters, and his government has freed up an extra 500 prison places.

Scores of accused, including teenagers, have already appeared before judges.

On Wednesday, a man was jailed for three years after he pleaded guilty to violent disorder and assaulting a police officer in Southport.

Two other men received sentences of 20 months and 30 months for participating in violence in Liverpool on Saturday.

"The three men sentenced today are the tip of the iceberg, and just the start of what will be a very painful process for many who foolishly chose to involve themselves in violent unrest," said prosecutor Jonathan Egan.

Police have blamed the disorder on figures associated with the now-defunct English Defence League (EDL), a far-right Islamophobic organization founded 15 years ago whose supporters have been linked to football hooliganism.

EDL founder Tommy Robinson has been accused by authorities of stoking tensions, and police in Cyprus, where he was reported to be on holiday, said Wednesday they were ready to assist U.K. police if needed.

However, Robinson later wrote on the X social media platform, "Lucky I'm not in Cyprus then."

The rallies have been advertised on far-right social media channels under the banner "Enough is enough."

U.K. lawmakers have accused social media sites of fueling the violence. Tech billionaire and X owner Elon Musk in particular has angered the government with a series of provocative tweets, including that a British "civil war is inevitable."