UK : Anti-immigration protests plague the country and create major unrest

Far-right demonstrations plagued various towns and cities across the UK on Saturday and are expected to continue on Sunday, causing disorder and damaging public facilities.

The unrest unfolded in Hull, Liverpool, Bristol, Manchester, Stoke-on-Trent, Blackpool, and Belfast, where shops were looted, and police officers were attacked and hospitalised in some locations.

A few hundred anti-fascist demonstrators called for unity and tolerance, chanting “refugees are welcome here” and “Nazi scum, off our streets.” Conversely, thousands of anti-immigration demonstrators shouted Islamophobic insults.

At a meeting of government ministers on Saturday, a spokesperson for Keir Starmer said the Prime Minister underscored that “the right to freedom of expression and the violent disorder we have seen are two very different things.”

He added: “There is no excuse for violence of any kind,” and “the government backs the police to take all necessary action to keep our streets safe.”