UK PM Starmer to hold emergency meeting amid violent protests

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to hold an emergency meeting with police chiefs today following a surge in violent anti-immigration protests.

These protests have seen buildings and vehicles torched and hotels housing asylum seekers targeted.

The unrest began after three girls were killed in a knife attack in Southport, northwest England. So far, 420 people have been arrested in connection with the riots, which have erupted across multiple towns and cities over the past week.

Anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim groups quickly seized on the murders, spreading misinformation online that the suspected attacker was a radical Islamist who had recently arrived in Britain. However, police have clarified that the suspect was born in Britain and are not treating the incident as terrorism.

Interior Minister Yvette Cooper stated that rioters felt “emboldened by this moment to stir up racial hatred,” with incidents including bricks thrown at police officers, shops looted, and mosques and Asian-owned businesses attacked.

Over the weekend, riots broke out in Liverpool, Bristol, Tamworth, Middlesbrough, and Belfast, Northern Ireland. Protesters, largely young men wearing balaclavas and draped in British flags, hurled rocks and shouted “Stop the Boats,” referring to migrants arriving on the south coast in recent years.

In Rotherham, northern England, protesters attempted to break into a hotel housing asylum seekers.

Police have attributed the violence to online disinformation, amplified by high-profile figures such as Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, who led the anti-Islam English Defence League. Yaxley-Lennon, who has 875,000 followers on X (formerly Twitter), has been blamed for spreading misinformation. He responded to the allegations by claiming, “They are lying to you all. Attempting to turn the nation against me. I need you, you are my voice.”

Elon Musk, owner of X, also commented on the violence. Responding to a post blaming mass migration and open borders for the disorder in Britain, he wrote, “Civil war is inevitable.”

Yvette Cooper emphasized that online networks have been amplifying and inflaming tensions, and the government plans to address the issue with social media companies. She stressed that while people may have legitimate concerns about immigration, extremist, racist, and violent groups are responsible for the unrest.

“Reasonable people who have all those sorts of views and concerns do not pick up bricks and throw them at the police,” Cooper said.