Response from London

“Stop the hate”, “immigrants are welcome” and similar slogans were written on placards held by the nearly 25,000 anti-racism protesters. So many are estimated to have gathered in various parts of the country such as London, Bristol, Birmingham and Liverpool.

It was a sample of unity as written by most of the British media today, in the face of far-right riots, which have been causing violent attacks across the country for 10 days. The head of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark Rowley, even described last night’s protests as a “success” as they overshadowed and dwarfed dozens of far-right demonstrations planned for Wednesday.

However, British MPs also appear modestly optimistic. Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson said the riots were “daunted by the prompt delivery of justice”. So far and according to the National Police Chiefs’ Council, more than 400 people have been arrested and 120 are accused of direct involvement in the incidents. Of course, this number is expected to increase with five more people being sentenced to prison terms of up to three years. In particular, three men aged 58, 41 and 29 were sentenced yesterday to three years, 20 months and 30 months in prison respectively, while two more are being sent to prison after today’s decision of the Liverpool court.

Fear of continuing episodes over the weekend

But this does not mean the end of violent incidents in the country. Again yesterday there were dozens of arrests in various parts of the country with immigration centers, specialist law firms and other businesses closing early for fear of being attacked and beaten by far-right extremists.

More than 4,000 police officers have been on the streets of the UK for days to curb violent incidents, while 2,000 more are on the way. Characteristic of the situation is the decision of the MPs of Northern Ireland to return to the seats of Stormond despite the planned break for the summer. The historically incident-prone region is now scrambling to find ways to contain the lawless situation before further violent clashes with police erupt.

However, the head of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark, emphasized that “70% of those involved in the incidents already have a heavy criminal record” commenting that “these are criminals and not patriots”.

Analyzes continue into the causes of the incidents

However, today’s reports speak of a possible decision by the government to ban rioters from entering football matches. Police are investigating a possible link between the incidents and hooligan groups, with the responsible minister for policing, Dame Diana Johnson, replying that “all possibilities are being considered” when asked by the BBC about a possible ban.

The branch of hooliganism and football is reported today in an article by the British Times. Entitled, “extremists fuel hate from hooligan gangs to fascist fight clubs”, it tries to look at what is behind the ‘explosion’ of far-right incidents. Among other things, of course, he highlights social media as a catalytic factor, such as the reinstatement of ‘banned’ – until recently – accounts by Elon Musk since he took over Twitter, now X, such as Tommy Robinson, former leader of the extreme right organization English Defense League.

At the same time, the connection of the phenomenon with the wave of the extreme right in Europe is examined. For example, another well-known far-right in the country and leader of the group ‘Identity England’, Charlie Fox, is reported by the paper to have traveled to Germany and Austria with other members of the gang in order to meet members of the far-right.