In a televised address, Starmer said, “I guarantee you will regret taking part in this disorder. Whether directly or those whipping up this action online, and then running away themselves.”
The disturbances, which have been ongoing for five days, are linked to the murder of three children earlier this week and have spread across the country.
Anti-immigration demonstrators, wearing masks, vandalized a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, by smashing windows. The unrest, fueled by misinformation surrounding the mass stabbing in Southport last Monday, has affected several towns and cities, with clashes between protesters and police.
Starmer, who recently led Labour to a landslide victory over the Conservatives, faces a significant early challenge in addressing the violence. He emphasized that there was “no justification” for the “far-right thuggery” and vowed to bring the perpetrators “to justice”, reported AFP. “This is not a protest, it is organized, violent thuggery and it has no place on our streets or online,” Starmer said in his speech.
He also condemned the attacks and added in address that, “People in this country have a right to be safe, and yet we’ve seen Muslim communities targeted, attacks on mosques, other minority communities singled out, Nazi salutes in the street, attacks on the police, wanton violence alongside racist rhetoric, so no, I won’t shy away from calling it what it is: far-right thuggery.”
Circulating footage showing rioters forcing their way into a Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham and pushing a burning bin into the building, though it was unclear if asylum seekers were inside. In Middlesbrough, hundreds of protesters confronted riot police, throwing bricks, cans, and pots at officers.
The recent disturbances follow the arrest of more than 90 people on Saturday during skirmishes at far-right rallies in various cities across England and Northern Ireland. Rioters engaged in violence against police, injuring several officers, and looted and burned shops while shouting anti-Islamic slurs during clashes with counter-protesters.
Tiffany Lynch of the Police Federation of England and Wales noted that the trouble is now “flooding across major cities and towns,” marking the worst violence England has experienced since the widespread rioting in 2011 following the police killing of a mixed-race man in north London.
The riots initially erupted in Southport on Tuesday night, following Monday’s frenzied knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party, before spreading throughout England. False rumors on social media about the background of the British-born 17-year-old suspect, Axel Rudakubana, who is accused of the killings and injuring 10 others, have fueled the unrest.
Police attribute the violence to supporters and associated organizations of the English Defence League, an anti-Islam group founded 15 years ago. Agitators have targeted at least two mosques, prompting the UK interior ministry to offer emergency security to Islamic places of worship.
The rallies, advertised on far-right social media channels under the slogan “Enough is enough,” have seen participants waving English and British flags while chanting slogans such as “Stop the boats,” referring to irregular migrants traveling from France to Britain. Counter-rallies by anti-fascist demonstrators have taken place in many cities, with slogans like “Nazi scum off our streets” being shouted in response to the far-right protesters’ chants of “You’re not English any more.”
Not all gatherings have turned violent, with a peaceful demonstration in Aldershot, southern England, on Sunday featuring placards reading “Stop the invasion” and “We’re not far right, we’re just right.”