More than 95 people were arrested on Saturday as protests turned violent in cities across the UK. Police officers were attacked and injured, and clashes broke out between anti-immigration supporters and counter-demonstrators.
Areas where protests took place on Saturday included Bristol, Leeds, Sunderland and Blackpool. Demonstrations also took place in Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester and Hull.
The worst violence occurred in Liverpool, where two police officers were taken to hospital with suspected broken jaws and noses.
In Nottingham, a brawl broke out in Market Square as rival groups faced off against each other, with bottles and other objects thrown from both sides and chants of “England to die for” drowned out by boos from the opposition.
Meanwhile in Northern Ireland, fireworks were set off amid tense exchanges between anti-Islam groups and an anti-racism rally in Belfast.
Police warned that further violence was possible in the coming days.
Speaking on public policy at the National Police Chiefs’ Council, Police Commissioner BJ Harrington said: “We know people will try to do this again. Police have been and will be prepared for this.”
Sir Keir Starmer told police they would “take all necessary steps to keep our streets safe” and that they had our full support from “thugs” who are “sowing hatred”.
Protests have erupted following the stabbing deaths of three young girls in Southport, with far-right activists and agitators spreading a flood of misinformation online about the suspect.
A Downing Street spokesman said the prime minister had met senior cabinet ministers, including the deputy prime minister, the home secretary, the justice minister and the police minister, to discuss public unrest and unrest.
After thanking police for their response to riots in Sunderland on Friday night in which four officers were injured, Sir Keir said officers were “fully supporting us in the fight against extremists who take to our streets to attack police officers, disrupt local businesses and seek to cause violence… and sow the seeds of hatred by intimidating people.”
“The right to freedom of expression and the violent riots we have experienced are completely different,” he said, adding that there is “no excuse for violence of any kind.”
Sir Keir reiterated that the Government was supporting the police to “take all necessary steps to keep our streets safe”.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said those involved in violent rioting “will pay a price” and told broadcasters “criminal violence and disorder have no place on Britain’s streets”. “That also means more prosecutors, enough jail space and preparing the courts,” Cooper said, “because those who take part in these kinds of riots must know that they will pay the price.”
She promised to work with police to ensure those responsible are “brought to justice, arrested and prosecuted”.
Asked if she had considered responding to a call from Priti Patel to convene Parliament, she said she had “been in discussion with MPs across the country” and would continue to do so.
Two officers were taken to hospital with serious injuries, believed to be a broken jaw and nose, after officers in Liverpool suffered “disgraceful levels of violence”, Deputy Constable Jenny Sims said.
Merseyside Police said several people lit fire extinguishers and “threw various objects at officers, including bricks and bottles”.
“An officer on a police motorbike was thrown off his motorbike and attacked,” ACC Sims said.
There were also reports of “families having to evacuate the area”, she added.
Bricks, bottles and smoke bombs were also thrown at officers lining the city centre’s beach.
Another officer was kicked off his motorbike by protesters and others tried to kick a riot shield.
north of England correspondent Charlotte Leeming said a female police officer was hit with a chair and taken away by other officers.
At least 23 people were arrested. Police said the number could rise as around 300 people were involved in the most serious violence on a county road in the Walton area.
Merseyside Police said: “The group met at approximately 8pm and from the outset intended to commit serious violence and disorderly behaviour, which resulted in the setting fire to local properties.” – An elderly man has been charged with two criminal offences following a violent disturbance in Southport on Tuesday. Derek Drummond, of Poole Street, Southport, has been charged with violent assault and assaulting an emergency worker. He is due to appear at Wirral Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
Bristol – Brawl
Police have arrested 14 people following a “violent disturbance” in Bristol.
around 100 protesters outnumbered counter-demonstrators chanting anti-fascist slogans by four to one, while “large numbers” of police tried to separate the protesters.
The rival factions left Castle Park, where they had gathered, and “spilled out onto the streets of Bristol” at about 7.30pm.
Cheshire said: “We witnessed several attacks by police horses and also hand-to-hand fighting between right-wing protesters and counter-demonstrators.”
At one point, projectiles were thrown at them, with the two sides just three metres apart, and police made arrests, he added.
Nottingham
At least three people have been arrested after a fight broke out between rival groups in Nottingham’s Market Square.
Bottles and other objects were hurled from both sides, and cries of “England to die for” and “Tommy Robinson” were drowned out by boos from the opposition.
Nottinghamshire Police promised a “robust response”.
Leeds
In Leeds, around 150 people holding St George flags and chanting “You’re not British anymore” and “Pedophile Muslims get out of our streets” far outnumbered several hundred counter-demonstrators who chanted “Get the Nazi scum out of our streets”.
Many in this group waved Palestinian flags and chanted “There are more of us than you”.
The two groups were separated by a fence around 20 metres, with around 20 police officers between them.
BLACKPOOL
In Blackpool, punks competed against men in football shirts for the annual Rebellion Festival, separated only by police.
Bottles and chairs flew as the crowd chanted “England to the death”, “We want our country back”, “Oh Tommy Robinson” and “Protect our children”. counter-demonstrators chanted “Get the Nazi scum out of our town” as bottles flew and minor skirmishes broke out.
Lancashire police later announced that more than 20 people had been arrested.
Hull
Three police officers were injured and four people were arrested in Hull during protests in which a group of people stormed a hotel staying asylum seekers.
Detective Chief Superintendent Darren Wildboar of Humberside Police said windows at the hotel where the migrants were staying were smashed and officers “had eggs and bottles thrown at them”.
Stoke-on-Trent
Ten people, all males aged between 15 and 52, have been arrested by Staffordshire Police after the shooting in Stoke-on-Trent on charges including assault, violent behaviour and racially or religiously intimidating behaviour. Bricks were also thrown at officers in On Trent.
Police said two men reported online as having been stabbed had in fact been injured by a blunt object.
They were taken to hospital with non-serious injuries, but three officers sustained minor injuries.
Sunderland
Northumbria Police said that a “door was broken into” and further arrests had been made following “acts of violence in Sunderland” on Friday.
Two arrests were made on Saturday in connection with Friday’s riots – a 43-year-old woman on suspicion of violent rioting and a 55-year-old man on suspicion of inciting violence.
Manchester
In Manchester, hundreds of people demonstrated against far-right activists in the city while a Sainsbury’s store was looted, according to campaign group Stand Up to Racism.
Belfast
Fireworks were set off during tense exchanges in Belfast between anti-Islam groups and an anti-racism rally.
Two people were arrested after protesters threw objects at media outside a mosque in Belfast.
Video footage also showed a man trying unsuccessfully to smash the glass doors at the front of a hotel.
Week of clashes after Southport murder
Saturday’s riots followed violent protests earlier in the week, which saw more than 100 people turn out outside Downing Street on Wednesday and a building next to a fire station in Sunderland on Friday night, with 10 arrests and objects thrown at police.
There is widespread unrest following the deaths of three girls in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift dance class at a community centre in Southport on Monday.
Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice DaSilva Aguiar, 9, died in the attack, and other children and adults were injured.
Following the attack, a wave of misinformation spread online about the background of Lancashire suspect Axel Muganwa Rudakubana.
False claims included that the Cardiff-born 17-year-old was an asylum seeker who had come to the UK by boat.
