Far-right violence continues in UK, nearly 400 arrested in week of unrest

Rioting and clashes with police have been reported in Belfast, Darlington and southern port city of Plymouth.

Far-right violence has continued across parts of the United Kingdom.

Clashes between rioters and police took place on Monday night in Belfast, Darlington in northeast England and Plymouth in the south.

Devon and Cornwall police said they had arrested six people in Plymouth after “levels of violence across the city” in the evening that left several officers and some members of the public injured. Two people were taken to hospital.

“Violence will not be tolerated, hate will not be tolerated,” the force said in a statement.

The British government is trying to quell the violence that began a week ago following a knife attack on a children’s dance class in northwestern Southport that left three girls dead.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has blamed the lawlessness on far-right activists and disinformation on social media and has promised “swift criminal sanctions” against offenders.

Nearly 400 people have been arrested over the past week, according to the BBC. Some of those charged in connection with the riots appeared on Monday in various magistrates courts – including in Liverpool, South Tyneside and Hull, it added.

The violence began hours after residents held a vigil for the girls killed and injured in the dance attack when an angry crowd targeted Southport’s mosque. Mobs have since attacked hotels housing asylum seekers, as well as mosques, amid false rumours that the Southport suspect was a Muslim asylum seeker.

“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 on Monday.

The suspect in the Southport killings was charged in court last week when the judge also lifted restrictions on reporting his identity. He was named as 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, who was born in Cardiff to a Rwandan couple and moved to the Southport area in 2013.

Violence also continued on Monday evening in Belfast in Northern Ireland where a supermarket was set on fire, and petrol bombs and stones were thrown at police, according to the BBC.

Police in northeast England said they also arrested an 18-year-old man after “small pockets of serious violence” led to bricks being thrown at officers in Darlington.