Rioters attacked a hotel used to house asylum seekers in the UK town of Rotherham on Sunday, as the country faces the worst social unrest it has seen in years.
The violence was triggered by the stabbing of three young girls in Southport, northwest England, earlier in the week. The far right has seized on and spread a wave of disinformation, including false claims the attacker was an immigrant, to mobilize anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant protests. Police say the suspect was born in Britain.
In the latest violence, the Holiday Inn Express Hotel in Rotherham was targeted by protesters who stormed the building, with reports of it being set on fire, according to PA Media. Rioters threw objects and sprayed fire extinguishers at police officers during the clashes.
Some of the rioters waved England flags as they chanted and faced off with officers. According to PA, at least one injured officer wearing riot gear was seen being carried from the scene.
British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper condemned the attack. “The criminal, violent attack on a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham is utterly appalling. Deliberately setting fire to a building with people known to be inside,” she wrote on X.
It comes as the UK’s policing minister has said that there will be a “nick them quick” approach to far-right rioters who have caused unrest across the country, but added there was no need to bring in the army.
In comments to the BBC, Dame Diana Johnson stressed that the plan was to carry out swift arrests and charges in order to take rioters off the street as quickly as possible and act as a deterrent to prevent further unrest.
More than 90 people were arrested in multiple cities and towns on Saturday and authorities put extra measures in place to maintain order.
The violent unrest is the worst seen since the riots of 2011 and provides a huge challenge to the Labour government of Keir Starmer just weeks after it won power.
“We’ve seen obviously, arrest which is very important, and we want to send a very clear message that if people get involved in this criminal disorder, that they will be brought to account. They will be charged, they will be taken to court, and there will be penalties,” Johnson said.
There have been discussions to bring in the army to assist police, but currently “there is no need to bring in the army,” Johnson said. “The police have made it very clear that they have all the resources they need at the moment. There’s mutual aid, as I’ve just described, and they have the powers that they need.”
Joe Mulhall, Director of Research at Hope Not Hate – a charity which campaigns against racism and fascism – has warned that the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, has become a central space for the spreading of dangerous disinformation and the promotion of the protests.
“A number of the most important figures spreading disinformation and exacerbating tensions, most notably Stephen Lennon (a.k.a. Tommy Robinson), had previously been de-platformed on X but have been given their accounts back since Elon Musk took control of the platform.
“This has resulted in far-right extremists once again being able to reach millions of people with their dangerous and divisive propaganda.”