On the seventh day of protests spreading across the country, Britain faces anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim and anti-foreigner “hooligan” violence, which for the first time unites the Labor government, the Conservatives and the Archbishop of Canterbury in one single accusation: “Racist ultra-rightists.” Birmingham, Belfast, Plymouth, Newcastle, are the new scenarios, where perpetrators and victims confront each other. There are dozens of police officers injured and one person in critical condition in Belfast.
The years of diabolization and dehumanization of migrants by the Tories and Brexit have plunged the kingdom into a spiral of violence that is in its seventh day, with more than 400 arrested and the government's decision to judge them as “terrorists.”
The British Defense League, a group of ultras and anti-Muslims, are preparing to march on Wednesday to the hotels where asylum seekers live. The Hollyday Inn hotel in Rotherham was destroyed and broken into on Sunday. Four asylum seekers slept terrified in a forest, after fleeing the hotel. The riots of recent days have “reduced the UK to a conflict zone”, the chief executive of the Scottish Refugee Council has said.
Since the Southport shooting, events have been unfolding rapidly in Great Britain: Shops and cars are burning, masked men are attacking a shelter for asylum seekers and there is no end in sight to the right-wing violence. The new Prime Minister Keir Starmer (Social Democrat) has now announced a tough crackdown.
The ongoing violence broke out after three girls were stabbed to death and eight other children and two adults were injured, some seriously, in a shooting spree in Southport, northwest England. Right-wing extremists claim that the authorities are hiding the attacker's true identity.
The authorities fear further riots at the start of the week and are gearing up. In numerous cities, ultra-nationalists called for protests, often near mosques. The government of the new Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced a tough crackdown on rioters.
