Thousands of counter-protesters have rallied in towns and cities across England after a week of rioting and disorder. Gatherings in locations where anti-immigration protests had been expected - including north London, Bristol and Newcastle - were largely peaceful, as counter-protesters formed the bulk of the crowds. Police had been braced for further violence, with thousands of officers monitoring as many as 100 locations. The demonstrations followed days of riots initially sparked by misinformation online that the suspect in the fatal stabbing of three girls in Southport on 29 July was a Muslim asylum seeker. Mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers have been among places targeted over the last week, with some shops burnt out and looted . On high streets across England, shop owners boarded up windows and closed early on Wednesday in anticipation of further violence. Immigration lawyers had been told by police to work from home after lists of solicitors’ ...
Thousands of police have been deployed to avert possible attacks on immigration solicitors and refugee centres.
Liverpool, United Kingdom – The United Kingdom is bracing for another day of unrest with more far-right race riots reportedly planned in several cities.
Activists monitoring far-right communications fear that on Wednesday, racist mobs could target dozens of locations. They say solicitors and advice groups which support migrants across the country – as well as immigration centres – could be attacked.
Police, who say 100 gatherings are planned, are preparing for more violence after several days of unrest which has already seen more than 400 people arrested.
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Counter-protesters are organising in an attempt to outnumber the agitators, a tactic that has worked in a small number of cities and towns.
Stand Up to Racism, one of the main organisers, called on Britons to “mobilise to defend immigration lawyers, refugee charities and asylum support centres”.
The group said agitators have listed the sites that they plan to target.
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Screenshots of a far-right WhatsApp chat that has circulated among affected communities, which has been seen by Al Jazeera, showed a list of immigration and refugee centres in at least 10 locations. “No more immigration. 8pm. Mask up,” text accompanying the list reads.
Hope not Hate warned that in addition to pre-advertised events, “there is a chance that the current tensions may result in further disturbances occurring spontaneously in towns and cities across the UK”.
Muslims, migrants and refugees, and ethnic minority groups are on edge.
Hashem, 30, plans to attend a counterprotest to protect an asylum centre in downtown Liverpool from “thugs”.
“People are being attacked in their own country and this is unacceptable,” said Hashem, who withheld his surname, fearing a far-right backlash.
“We were born and raised here and we will not be cornered by fascists … we are going to show that this behaviour is not welcomed here,” he told Al Jazeera.
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Muslims in the northern city, as in dozens of others, are reeling from the worst bout of violent xenophobia in years.
The riots began in Southport after three girls were killed in a stabbing attack in the coastal town on July 29. Agitators online had suggested the stabbing suspect was a Muslim and a migrant, increasing anger among some Britons who falsely believe immigration is to blame for most deadly crimes.
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The suspect, Alex Rudakubana, is a teenager born in Wales. He is neither a Muslim nor a migrant.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer chaired a second Cobra emergency meeting to coordinate the response.
“We’re doing everything we can to ensure that where a police response is needed, it’s in place, where support is needed for particular places, that that is in place,” he said.
Close to 6,000 police officers have been mobilised to deal with the unrest, UK media has reported.
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But disinformation continues to swirl online, stirring hatred and anger.
The Institute for Strategic Dialogue has said algorithms controlled by social media platforms are fanning anti-Muslim and anti-migrant narratives.
On Tuesday, Jordan Parlour, 28, was charged with using threatening words to stir up racial hatred after calling on people via Facebook to attack a hotel housing asylum seekers.
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Elon Musk, the owner of X owner and self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist”, has been accused of inflaming tensions.
He has said a “civil war” was inevitable, a comment which put him at odds with the UK government, and called the prime minister “two-tier Keir” – a reference to the conspiracy theory that police treat white far-right protesters more harshly than other groups.
Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson and the founder of the now defunct anti-Islam, anti-immigrant English Defence League, has also been accused of stoking rage with incendiary online messages and commentary targeting immigrants, Islam, the police and government.
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But many of those at risk say the growth of racism can be traced back to the political leaders who have for years touted an anti-immigration narrative.
Rioters have raised placards with the words: “Stop the boats” – a phrase coined by the former Conservative government as part of its pledge to control undocumented migration.
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Suella Braverman, a former Conservative home secretary, has referred to people crossing the English Channel from France as invaders.
“There is no doubt that 14 years of Conservative government, their attitude, the language they used … they dehumanised them and that has an impact on people’s thinking,” said Tawhid Islam, a member of the Liverpool Region Mosque Network.
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