Britain has been gripped by a series of riots that have swept across the country, leaving police officers with broken bones, buildings set on fire, and shops looted. The former head of counter-terror policing, Neil Basu, described the worst of the riots as 'designed to cause terror' and called attempts to set fire to a migrant hotel 'modern day lynching'.
The violence is set to continue after far-right thugs shared plans to 'mask-up' and target immigration lawyers on Wednesday in a Telegram group with more than 14,000 people. Telegram users in far-right groups have also been sharing instructions on how to make petrol bombs and an 'arson manual' produced by a Russian neo-Nazi group.
Police confirmed they are aware of six events today and monitoring 30 potential gatherings on Wednesday. Over 400 arrests have been made in connection with the violence of the past week, with the justice minister claiming that those responsible will have a 'prison place waiting for them'.
The unrest continued last night with disorder in Belfast, Darlington, Birmingham, and Plymouth. In Belfast, a man in his 50s was seriously injured in what police are treating as a racially-motivated attack after attackers stamped on his head. In Darlington, bricks were hurled at police officers. In Birmingham, several vehicles, a pub, and a Sky News van were attacked.
The riots were sparked by the Southport stabbing frenzy at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party that left three little girls dead. Misinformation spread that the killer had been a migrant who arrived on a small boat, leading to violent protests in Merseyside. Since then, more anarchy has been seen across the country, including in London, Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool, Hull, Leicester, Nottingham, Rotherham, Bolton, Middlesbrough, and Tamworth.
Downing Street last night rebuked Elon Musk, the owner of X, for using his platform to claim that 'civil war is inevitable'. The government accused him of stoking community tensions following the murder of three children in Southport.
