Thousands of Britons took part in anti-racism rallies on Saturday in response to the far-right riots that have rocked the UK for a week.
The last major clashes between police and rioters took place on Monday evening, but police remain on alert for this weekend due to the risk of a resumption of the violence triggered by the murder of three young girls on July 29.
At the end of a week marked by a very firm judicial response, with hundreds of appearances and first convictions, as well as a first wave of anti-racist rallies on Wednesday, new demonstrations took place in many cities to denounce the recent xenophobic and Islamophobic violence.
The largest brought together some 5,000 people in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, where the police had denounced several acts described as racist this week.
Fiona Doran, of United Against Racism, which co-organised the rally, said it showed “that Belfast is a welcoming city.” […] who says no to racism, fascism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism or misogyny.”
A mosque in Newtownards, east Belfast, was again targeted on Friday night by a petrol bomb – which was not lit – and vandalised, with police saying they were treating the case as a racist offence.
“This was a racially motivated hate crime and I want to send a strong message to those who carried out this act that this type of activity will not be tolerated,” said Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Chief Inspector Keith Hutchinson.
Prison sentences
Anti-racist rallies bringing together hundreds of people have been reported across the UK: Newcastle and Manchester (northern England), Cardiff (Wales), Glasgow and Edinburgh (Scotland)…
In London, nearly a thousand people gathered outside the headquarters of the anti-immigration, anti-establishment Reform UK party, carrying placards reading “No to racism, no to hate”, without incident.
“I don’t like the right taking to the streets in my name,” Jeremy Snelling, 64, who attended the rally, told AFP.
“I am in favor of opening the borders and refugees are a good thing,” he added, believing that the population had to be convinced by “argumentation” and not by the firmness of the police.
“It’s very important for immigrants in this country to see us here, white British people, saying: no, we don’t tolerate this,” insisted Phoebe Sewell, a 32-year-old Londoner.
The riots, the worst in the UK since 2011, targeted mosques and migrant accommodation centres.
They erupted following the knife attack that cost the lives of three young girls on July 29 in Southport (north-west England), against a backdrop of partly denied online rumours about the suspect, a 17-year-old boy.
The authorities attribute the calm over the past five days to the very firm judicial response, with more than 800 arrests, 300 indictments and the first prison sentences for rioters or online publications stirring up violence.
Despite the respite, British media reported on Saturday that Prime Minister Keir Starmer had cancelled his holiday plans for next week in order to stay focused on the crisis.
Hundreds of alleged participants in the violence will soon be brought to justice in a “new phase” of “more serious” cases, said Stephen Parkinson, chief prosecutor for England and Wales.
Those found guilty could face prison terms of up to 10 years for the most serious offence, rioting, he warned.
“This is not about revenge, it’s about justice,” Mr Parkinson said, in comments reported by the Sunday Times.
Silent until then, King Charles III thanked the police on Friday evening for their action to put an end to “the delinquency of a small number”, and praised the “spirit of solidarity” and “the compassion” of those who opposed it.