British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said violent protesters targeting Muslim communities would immediately face the “full force of the law”, as he seeks to calm days of anti-immigration riots.
The stabbing deaths of three young girls in the northwest English town of Southport last week has been seized upon by anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim groups, spread misinformation online and was amplified by high-profile right-wing figures to spark chaos in towns and cities.
“Whatever the apparent motivation, this is not a protest, this is pure violence and we will not tolerate attacks on mosques or our Muslim communities,” Starmer said after an emergency meeting with police and prison chiefs on Monday.
“The full force of the law will be brought to bear on anyone found to be involved.”
Police chiefs said they had arrested 378 people since the unrest began and warned of “lengthy jail terms” for those found guilty of violent disorder.
The violence flared last Tuesday after it was said on social media that the suspected attacker in Southport was a radical Islamist who had recently arrived in Britain and was known to intelligence agencies.
Police say the 17-year-old suspect was born in Britain and they are not treating it as a terrorist incident. The suspect’s parents moved to Britain from Rwanda.
Interior Minister Yvette Cooper said rioters had “the audacity to incite racial hatred” and that the protests were not a proportionate response to concerns about record levels of immigration.
“People with reason … don’t pick up bricks and throw them at the police,” he said.
Protests have continued across the country, mostly involving a few hundred people, with shops looted and mosques and Asian-owned businesses attacked. Cars have been set on fire and some unverified videos on social media have shown ethnic minorities being beaten up.
Australia and Nigeria were among the countries that on Monday issued warnings to their citizens living in or travelling to Britain.
On Monday evening, the protests spread to Plymouth in southwest England. Several hundred anti-immigration protesters wearing English and British flags were confronted by a large number of counter-protesters, who were kept apart by police equipped with riot equipment.
Protesters threw bricks and fireworks and scuffled with police. Sky News reported that three police officers were injured.
On Sunday, protesters in Rotherham, northern England, tried to break into a hotel housing refugees. Starmer described it as an act of “far-right hooliganism”. Earlier on Saturday, protests also took place in other English cities and in Belfast.
Starmer said a “standing army” of specialist police officers would deal with incidents of violence where necessary.
The Northern Ireland Assembly will end its summer recess a day early to discuss the violence.
Police blame online misinformation
Police have blamed online misinformation spread by high-profile personalities for the violence.
Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known under the pseudonym Tommy Robinson and formerly a leader of the defunct anti-Islam English Defence League, has been accused by the media of spreading misinformation on X to his 875,000 followers.
“They’re lying to all of you,” Yaxley-Lennon said. “They’re trying to turn the country against me. I need you, you’re my voice.”
X owner Elon Musk also had his say. Responding to a post on X that blamed mass migration and open borders for chaos in the UK, he wrote: “Civil war is inevitable.”
A spokesman for Starmer said there was “no justification” for Musk’s remarks. Musk later criticised Starmer for a post in which he identified mosques as requiring special protection.
M.A. Ghani, a 33-year-old lawyer in Whitechapel, London, said the British Bangladeshi community was “living in fear.”
“We’ve never seen far-right groups this active and this anti-immigrant,” he said.
“I hope the UK (government) will take the initiative to calm the situation.”
UK technology minister Peter Kyle met representatives of social media platforms including X and reminded them of their responsibility to prevent the incitement of racial hatred and violence.
“There is a huge amount of content being circulated that platforms need to deal with quickly,” he said.