UK reels from days of rioting against immigrants, Muslims

(CN) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday vowed to use the “full force of the law” against anti-immigrant rioters who've caused mayhem across England following a mass stabbing that killed three girls at a dance studio outside Liverpool a week ago.

The weekend saw the worst violence yet as mobs with links to the far right attacked two hotels where asylum-seekers were housed, clashed with police outside Downing Street in London and caused havoc in several towns and cities. The violence was directed at mosques, people with immigrant backgrounds and asylum seekers.

Seeking to quell his government's first crisis, Starmer ordered police to crack down on the rioters. The Labour leader has been in office for about a month.

“Whatever the apparent motivation, this is not protest, it is pure violence and we will not tolerate attacks on mosques or our Muslim communities,” Starmer said.

He said a “standing army of specialist officers” was being deployed to end the unrest.

“The full force of the law will be visited on all those who have been identified to have taken part in these activities,” he said, accusing the far right for stoking the unrest.

Monday night saw fresh violence break out in Plymouth in southwest England. British media showed tense scenes with police attempting to keep far-right protesters and counter-protesters away from each other. At least one police van was damaged in the Plymouth riot, British media reported.

The disorder left numerous police officers across the country injured after rioters attacked them with fists and threw bricks, planks and other projectiles.

Anti-immigrant sentiment runs strong in many parts of the United Kingdom. It was a prime factor in the Brexit referendum vote. Many Brits are uneasy with the growing number of immigrants, especially Muslim ones, and the country has been scarred by several Islamist terrorist attacks in recent years.

Since Brexit, both major parties, the Conservatives and Labour, have taken a harsh stance on illegal immigration and vowed to close off Britain's borders. Before losing elections in July, the previous Conservative government set up a scheme to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, a plan scrapped by Starmer.

By Monday, about 400 people had been arrested and the number of arrests was expected to grow considerably as police track down those involved in the violence. Facial recognition technology is expected to help police find many suspects.

The mass arrests and prosecutions are going to put new strains on court and prison systems that were already overburdened in many parts of Britain.

The riots started last Tuesday as anger erupted in the wake of a mass stabbing that left three girls dead at a dance and yoga studio in Southport, a town outside Liverpool in northwestern England.

The knife attacker has been identified as Axel Rudakubana, who turns 18 years old this week. He was born in Cardiff, Wales, to Rwandan parents who raised him as a Christian, British media reported. He was living near Southport when he carried out the knife attack.

Police withheld his name due to his age and that helped fuel false online rumors describing the school attacker as Muslim and an asylum seeker.

Authorities accuse far-right figures including Tommy Robinson, a former leader of the xenophobic English Defense League, of stoking the riots.

Over the past week, riots have erupted in Southport, Hartlepool, Manchester, Aldershot, Sunderland, Liverpool, Blackpool, Hull, Leeds, Preston, Stoke-on-Trent, Nottingham, Bristol, Middlesbrough, Rotherham, Tamworth, Solihull, Plymouth and Belfast in Northern Ireland.

Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.

Follow @cainburdeau

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